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Barbara Harbach’s Soler Cycle

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

For her “complete” Soler cycle, Barbara Harbach presents Padre Samuel Rubio’s edition of 120 sonatas in numerical order on 14 CDs, in contrast to Naxos’ Gilbert Rowland, who opts for varied ordering and the inclusion of sonatas not published in the Rubio collection. While Rowland’s discs convey the resonance of a small concert hall, Harbach’s harpsichord, modeled after an 18th-century two-manual French instrument, is reproduced in a close-up, slightly dry yet vividly clear recording. The sonics suit Harbach’s centered, straightforward, and technically meticulous interpretations.

She shapes ornaments with pointed consistency, and illuminates striking harmonic ideas (No. 30’s chromatic felicities, No. 21’s ear-catching suspensions, and No. 110’s chordal movement) without belaboring them. Harbach’s finely honed distinctions between sustained and detached articulations pay particular expressive dividends in slower movements. However, Rowland generally offers brighter tempos and greater virtuosic flair in fast movements, together with a rhythmic ebb and flow that seems more idiomatically effective. You’ll hear what I mean when you compare, for example, his sculpting of No. 75’s decorative lines or No. 85’s imitative writing alongside Harbach’s relatively plainer, more austere traversals.

Direct comparisons also reveal disparate readings, such as in No. 50’s third measure where Harbach begins the triplet figure before rather than on the second eighth note beat as indicated in the Rubio score. Rowland executes the triplet as written, and to my ears it makes more musical sense. On the other hand, Harbach is not altogether immune to No. 48’s extroverted Flamenco evocations.

Harbach’s booklet notes reflect her enthusiasm and devotion, her perspective and painstaking scholarship, and a genuine desire for this repertoire to reach a wider audience. Although Rowland remains my “complete” Soler cycle of choice (unfortunately, Bob van Asperen’s superb cycle for Astrée is out of print and difficult to source), the purity and integrity of Harbach’s best performances compel in their own way.

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Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Complete Sonatas: Gilbert Rowland (Naxos), Bob van Asperen (Astrée)

    Soloists: Barbara Harbach (harpsichord)

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