Harpsichord

It has a narrow dynamic range, a clinking timbre and, to many listeners, an arcane, fusty aura. But to Igor Kipnis, the 400-year-old harpsichord's tinkling tones can still make vibrant music for audiences of today.

Promising to give it "the full monty," British harpsichord maestro Richard Egarr, making his first solo tour of the United States, will perform J.S. Bach's masterwork, the "Goldberg Variations," as well as the seldom-heard 14 "Goldberg Canons," on Friday at the Doheny Mansion in Los Angeles.

The third of Chamber Music/LA's "Affair With Brahms" concerts, at the Japan America Theatre, turned out to be a birthday party. The main offering on Brahms' 156th birthday was his Piano Quartet in C-minor. Pianist Ayke Agus joined violinist Christian Bor, violist Milton Thomas and cellist Jeffrey Solow in a full-blooded performance Sunday afternoon that cascaded passionately from tenderness to raw energy. Violinist Yukiko Kamei, with Kenneth Cooper at the harpsichord, started the proceedings with a fastidious and somewhat small-scaled account of J.S. Bach's Sonata in E, BWV 1016.

As the Eclectic Orange Festival winds down, its Latin kick remains. Thursday night, harpsichordist Andreas Staier added to that kick with a program of Baroque music from Spain. Of course, Domenico Scarlatti's quirky and irresistible sonatas dominated, but there were also sonatas by Sebastian de Albero, Josep Galles and Jose Ferrer, as well as a set of variations by Felix Maximo Lopez. It was a fertile period in Iberian musical history, and we are still the richer for it.

Promising to give it "the full monty," British harpsichord maestro Richard Egarr, making his first solo tour of the United States, will perform J.S. Bach's masterwork, the "Goldberg Variations," as well as the seldom-heard 14 "Goldberg Canons," on Friday at the Doheny Mansion in Los Angeles.

Whatever stylistic gripes one might level at harpsichordist Anthony Newman--overly lush keyboard registrations, sometimes excessive tempos, a little too much freeness with rubato--the impression remains that he regards the audience as a large group of friends. He did it again Wednesday night at Ambassador Auditorium, leading the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra through three harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach, a Leclair violin concerto and the Concerto Grosso in A minor from Opus 6 of Handel.

Audiences needn't be disturbed when they sit down for this weekend's San Diego Symphony Orchestra concert and see a harpsichord and only 22 musicians on stage. It is not an austerity measure. The orchestra's size has been reduced to accommodate the Bach Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major. The shrunken symphony is in keeping with the number of musicians Bach had at his disposal. The orchestra also will play without a conductor in the concerts tonight through Sunday.

Crammed together within the short space of eight days, the annual, four-event Baroque Music Festival of Corona del Mar may be an embarrassment of riches for the beach community. More important, it may be too much, too quick for the gifted and accomplished musicians who take part in it. Stylish and committed but too often unpolished, the performances given Friday night at Sherman Gardens in the third of the four concerts of the 1989 series earned admiration for their professionalism and sincerity, but sometimes fell short of standards of previous festivals.

Brit­ish roots mu­sic band Mum­ford & Sons took the top hon­or for its album "Ba­bel" at the 55th Grammy Awards ce­re­mony Sunday. The night mostly dis­trib­uted hon­ors broadly to an ar­ray of young­er gen­er­a­tion acts in­clud­ing New York in­die trio Fun., Aus­trali­an elec­tron­ic pop artist Gotye, rap­per-R&B sing­er Frank Ocean and Ak­ron, Ohio, rock group the Black Keys. See the complete list of 2013 Grammy winners and nominees below. #story-body-text h2 { font-weight: bold !

The standard repertory for piano is large. But it is just the tip of an ivory iceberg of interesting music that has been written for keyboard during the past 400 years. There are almost limitless discoveries to be made, and it turns out that we miss a lot. Below is a look at little-known, and in some cases downright obscure, work by composers (some of whom are also downright obscure) that has fallen below the standard repertory radar.

Igor Kipnis, one of the preeminent American harpsichordists and advocates for the instrument, died Wednesday at his home in Connecticut. He was 71. He had suffered recently from cancer, according to the Associated Press. Son of Alexander Kipnis, a principal bass with the Berlin State Opera, Igor was born Sept. 27, 1930. His father, although Jewish, remained an audience favorite during the initial years of the Nazi era, but for the sake of safety he moved the family to Vienna.

Since the beginning of the rock era, records from England and the United States have had a profound influence on Latin American music. During the '60s, Latin artists tried to emulate the Beatles and Bob Dylan. In the '70s, they imitated progressive rock, and the new wave of the early '80s inspired such rock en espanol groups as Caifanes and Soda Stereo. It was inevitable, then, that hip-hop would sooner or later result in a new subgenre, rap en espanol.

In 1974, Holliger and a merry band of Baroque players unleashed six refreshingly oddball Trio Sonatas by hitherto-forgotten Bohemian composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) onto unsuspecting turntables. "Aha," some thought, "a neglected genius"; but as the freshness of discovery wore off, the early music movement moved on.

William P. Kasimoff, 75, piano and harpsichord dealer and tuner. Born in Los Angeles to Russian immigrant parents, Kasimoff was himself a musician, playing the clarinet with the San Gabriel Symphony. He learned the art of piano tuning as an apprentice. For 34 years, Kasimoff was the only licensed U.S. dealer for German Bluthner pianos and Neupert harpsichords. His Kasimoff-Bluthner Piano Co., first located in Pasadena and now at 337 N. Larchmont Blvd.

Musicians who have something to prove make for engaging listening. Their concerts become arguments for the cause, whether it's Berlioz, Byzantine chant or the sousaphone. Patricia Mabee and Barbara Cadranel are two such musicians, out to show that their instrument, the harpsichord, is not the cool, antique medium we might think it is.

As the Eclectic Orange Festival winds down, its Latin kick remains. Thursday night, harpsichordist Andreas Staier added to that kick with a program of Baroque music from Spain. Of course, Domenico Scarlatti's quirky and irresistible sonatas dominated, but there were also sonatas by Sebastian de Albero, Josep Galles and Jose Ferrer, as well as a set of variations by Felix Maximo Lopez. It was a fertile period in Iberian musical history, and we are still the richer for it.

Fernando Valenti, who was credited with popularizing the harpsichord in the United States, has died of a heart attack, it was learned this week. Valenti, who spiced his concerts and television appearances with wit and comment, was 63 when he suffered a heart attack Thursday while riding in a taxicab from Kennedy Airport in New York to Red Bank, N.J. He made his New York Town Hall debut in 1951 and for the next 35 years was heard in concert around the world.

Holly Hunter's virtuoso piano playing in "The Piano" is leaving audiences awe-struck. But while Hunter did in fact spend much of her childhood learning the instrument and worked at it sporadically as an adult, she admits she needed a little polishing for her role in Jane Campion's acclaimed film. In Hollywood there's a specialist for everything, and it's no different for mastering keyboards.