French Love • Justin Taylor @ BEMF 2025
In a full hour recital with only a couple pauses for Taylor to speak briefly with the audience, the French harpsichordist presented a tasteful program of works for the harpsichord from well-known composers, including Couperin, d’Anglebert, Lully, Rameau, and Dandrieu. Included too was La Reveûse by Marin Marais, arranged here for the 1984 Stonington, Connecticut-made Blanchet copied harpsichord by the workshop of David Jacques Way.
Taylor inserted two pieces not listed on the program: L’rappel des oiseaux by Rameau and the Les Barricades Misterieuses by François Couperin. He ended up playing encores, featuring a movement from one of Bach’s concerto transcriptions by the Italian masters and finally, the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Taylor explained that his “American” name stems from his father, who relocated to France, and who was originally from Iowa. The response from the audience was playful in response, speaking I believe to their generous reception of this artist at this year’s festival. Some of the same influences on Taylor’s playing from the night before in his recital with Théotime Langlois de Swarte were perceptible here, but in playing alone, his gifts were even more assured for those in attendance.
I often enjoy watching an audience, and the BEMF audience, I’ve now witnessed, is made up of some die-hard music aficionados. Some listen, in near rapture with their eyes closed shut hard, while others stare at the musician; one lady crocheted the entire time, and some move and sway with the music, in a way that suggests the pieces played are already well-worn into their conscience.
Of special note was the suite in G minor by Jean Henry d’Anglebert. Luxurious was the first word that came to my mind as I heard how Taylor crafted the melodic tapestry of these four pieces; of special charm was the Passacaille d’Armide. By the time Taylor stopped to greet the audience, it was obvious he was well-prepared and in fine form.
The Jupiter pièce de caractère by Jean-Baptiste Forqueray was another stunning piece, and by this time, it was obvious that Taylor was crafting his phrasing and application of rubato in a way that felt natural to him. I can attest that there is a freedom afforded to the musician who can play without a score, and save for the first aforementioned suite, the remainder of the concert was played from memory.
Perceptible in one of the encores, in addition to Rameau’s fabulous Gavotte avec six doubles was a tendency to speed things up and nearly lose control. Grand virtuosity with one’s fingers is most definitely something to take notice of, but in this case I felt his firestorm of fury might have been tempered with something of an opposing temperament, such as pauses, or some phrases stretched on the slower side. His application, however, of some original new material applied to the framework of the Rameau’s doubles were an unexpected but incredible departure. It gave the audience a different kind of virtuosity, one that trumped the technique that he clearly had already proven lived in his fingers.
It was the same trick employed by TLdS the evening before, and here for me, it was even more successful applied to this familiar repertoire.
All said, out of the recordings I’ve heard of Taylor, combined with concert videos, this was the apex for me of his musical abilities. More than once I sat back thinking “This kid is hitting it out of the park, not sure if this isn’t the best we’ll ever hear him!”
Of course, Taylor is not a kid, but he’s still younger than me, and does possess a youthful calm to his appearance that betrays the voice he has as a keyboard player. This was, to be sure, one of the most exciting harpsichord recitals of my memory. While it became clear throughout the performance that the tuning of the instrument wasn’t perfect when Taylor combined two sets of strings, and that in some of the wild runs he may have flubbed two or three notes, this musician nevertheless played with passion, with heart, and I think spoke true to the spirit of the selected repertoire.
Post concert I overheard some speaking of his phrasing and his ignorance of some of the rhetorical aspects of the music. The rushing, the playfulness with time. The truth is, each artist needs to bring their own voice to their performance and for me, and for the general response with multiple standing ovations from the BEMF audience, Taylor’s approach was not only viable, but well-received.
