Harpsichord Recital

On this debut recording, Rebecca Pechefsky explores several different styles of harpsichord music; some of the pieces are well known and some have never been recorded before. The rich textures and compelling rhythms of J. S. Bach's preludes and fugues are familiar to many music lovers, but Rebecca gives them a fresh, new interpretation. The other German composer on the CD, Elias Brunnemüller, is almost completely unknown. He started his career as a touring violin virtuoso and later settled in Amsterdam, where he may have lived to be over 90 years old. His harpsichord pieces are adventurous and quirky, with many deft, original touches. Elisabeth Jacquet de le Guerre was one of the most talented woman composers of the 17th century, and the first woman in history to write a full-length opera. Louis XIV liked her music tremendously, and it's easy to see why. Her pieces are full of exquisite, evocative melodies. Rebecca concertizes extensively in and around the New York Metropolitan area, taking special pleasure in performing works by little-known composers. She has performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and the eighteenth-century Morris-Jumel Mansion, as well as at the Boston Early Music Festival. She is equally at home in contemporary music and has premiered works by Mary Inwood, Frank J. Oteri, Louis Pelosi, and Johnny Reinhard. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Erik Ryding, with whom she has coauthored a biography of German conductor Bruno Walter, winner of the 2002 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.