Carnegie Hall on the Circle
On Thursday, December 10, internationally celebrated harpsichordist Jory Vinikour performed a concert of Bach, Bull, Couperin, Rameau, and Scarlatti to a sold-out house at Carnegie Hall. The New York Times praised the performance, which ended with a standing ovation and two encores, as "virtuosic" and "soulfully rendered."
Groton School had the good fortune to have its own private performance of Mr. Vinikour's Carnegie Hall program right here on the Circle just a few days earlier.
In preparation for his New York concert, he came to Groton to practice, contemplate, work with Groton students on their music, and grace the school with a prelude concert that packed the Gammons Recital Hall to standing room only.
In preparation for his New York concert, he came to Groton to practice, contemplate, work with Groton students on their music, and grace the school with a prelude concert that packed the Gammons Recital Hall to standing room only.
"We were so lucky to have him here," said Mary Ann Lanier, Director of Instrumental Music and Arts Department Head. "He brought a form of music that was new to many, and he attracted visitors from outside Groton School to enjoy our Gammons Concert Series."
The masterful performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau's gavotte with doubles (one of the more technically challenging pieces in the baroque repertoire) literally dropped jaws in the audience as they watched his hands cross over each other on the double manual harpsichord.
The masterful performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau's gavotte with doubles (one of the more technically challenging pieces in the baroque repertoire) literally dropped jaws in the audience as they watched his hands cross over each other on the double manual harpsichord.
Mr. Vinikour appears regularly as harpsichordist at renowned venues inlcuding the Paris Opera, Netherlands Opera, Salzburg Festival, Teatro Real de Madrid, Baden-Baden, and Glyndebourne; his recordings have twice been nominated for a Grammy Award. He came to public attention after winning first prizes in the International Harpsichord Competitions of Warsaw (1993) and the Prague Spring Festival (1994).
The Groton School concert debuted a new instrument, recently completed (for the author of this article) by renowned harpsichord builder Peter Fisk, who came from his workshop in Vermont to hear the concert. Based on the celebrated instruments of Pascal Taskin (1723–93), harpsichord builder to the court of Louis XVI, the instrument's case is a dark blue lacquer with gold leaf bands and the soundboard is painted with fanciful pond life—koi, frogs, tadpoles, and lilypads.—Charlotte Pontifell '19Photos by Angus Warren '16
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