When I attended last night’s Early Music Hawaii concert by harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, the phrase that kept popping in my head was “Liquid Gold.”
What do I mean by that?
If you search “liquid gold” on the internet, you’ll find it’s the name of a diet supplement, a moisturizer, a cleaning product and even breast milk!
Even Merriam-Webster defines it as “a liquid preparation (as a suspension of finely divided gold in an oil) for decorating ceramic ware with gold or gold color.”
What I heard coming out of that Cammack harpsichord at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu was a sound like no other harpsichord I’ve heard before—like liquid gold. Jory Vinikour’s incredible and virtuosic technique almost made the harpsichord sound like an organ, with a continuous wall of sound, instead of an instrument whose sound dies away after the initial “pluck.” The sound was simply exquisite.
Believe me, I know how hard it is to play that harpsichord because of its uneven action. Jory made it sound so simple and beautiful! (I’m afraid when I play it, it sounds clunky! But I’m admittedly not a harpsichordist—it’s not my instrument!)
Here was last night’s program:
Early Music Hawaii
and Mark Russell
present
JORY VINIKOUR, harpsichord
December 13, 2021 • 7:00 pm
Lutheran Church of Honolulu
William BYRD (ca. 1540-1623) : The Bells
John BULL (1562-1628) : The King!s Hunt
J.S. BACH (1685-1750 ) : Toccata in D Major, BWV 912
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757) :
Sonata in b minor K 87 • Sonata in D Major, K 535
interval
Louis COUPERIN (1626-1661) : Passacaille in C Major
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1767) :
L’Entretien des Muses • Les Tourbillons • Le Lardon • La Boiteuse • Les Cyclopes
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace ROYER (1603-1755) :
Allemande ( Marche avant le Sacrifice ) • La Sensible • La Marche des Scythes
Here’s a piece we heard last night:
Here’s what Leon Williams posted on his Facebook page after Sunday’s Handel Messiah concert: Feeling truly blessed to have shared this concert with Jory Vinikour, Sherezade Panthaki and the superbly gifted musicians of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra.
After the concert, I was able to open up the Beckerath organ for Philippe LeRoy, Jory’s spouse, to play a little. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to come last week to see the organ as scheduled because he was sick. Still, he played through several stops and told me it was a beautiful instrument. He wished he had more time with it.
The best comment I ever had about what it is to play harpsichord is that the technique is “so precious.” I thought that perfectly captured not only how it is to play, but also exactly what is needed to make it sound like as you say “liquid gold.”
It was amazing! And I kept thinking he might reach for a pedal, because, yes, organ like! Such an incredible treat, I wish he’d record the Scarlatti pieces as a set.