Born in Chicago in 1963, Jory Vinikour is one of the many American harpsichordists like William Christie, Scott Ross and Kenneth Gilbert, who has gone to Paris to work on French harpsichord music, notably alongside Huguette Dreyfus.
Two-time Grammy Award-nominated Vinikour set his sights on François Couperin for this album devoted to his Ordres 6, 7 and 8 ( “suites” in Couperin’s vocabulary), which the American harpsichordist is particularly fond of. All of these pieces are imbued with remarkable melodic invention and a range of atmospheres that exude poetry and melancholy. They include the enigmatic and enchanting Mysterious barricades, whose meaning no musicologist has yet deciphered.
For this recording made in Chicago in June 2019, Jory Vinikour uses an instrument built by Italian harpsichord maker Tony Chinnery in 2012, based on a Taskin model. He is an eclectic musician and plays all kinds of music, from Couperin to Michael Nyman as well as modern concertos composed in the 20th century by Francis Poulenc and Frank Martin, and his release of Rameau’s complete works for harpsichord has received particular acclaim. He also devoted an entire recording to works written for the harpsichord by contemporary American composers. © François Hudry/Qobuz