Biography
Blandine Verlet (27 February 1942 – 30 December 2018) was a harpsichordist and a harpsichord teacher, who is known internationally for her recordings of works by François Couperin.
Born in Paris into a musical family, she was the seventh of ten children, and in 1957 gained admission to the Conservatoire de Paris, studying piano and harpsichord. Having decided on her specialty, she studied harpsichord with Huguette Dreyfus in Paris, Ruggero Gerlin in Siena and with Ralph Kirkpatrick an Yale University. A significant competition prize in Paris in 1963 led to engagements in Italy and Germany.
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Verlet has been widely praised for her recordings of Bach's music, including the Goldberg Variations. She is perhaps best known for playing the music of her compatriot François Couperin, displaying exceptional sensitivity and imagination. Verlet recorded Couperin's complete works in the 1970s and 80s, and in late 2011 she returned to re-record five 'ordres' on the period Henri Hemsch harpsichord. Verlet wrote a poem in celebration of Couperin which accompanied the release, the closing lines of which exemplify her great imaginative empathy with this key French composer:
We hope we too have managed to grasp
your art of playing the harpsichord.
The art of both poetry and precision.
The art of whispering, murmuring.
The song without words, lighter for having no text.
Wandering shadows, expressions of the heart.
Our thanks to you, Francois Couperin. (tr. Mary Pardoe)
Discography
1973 Frescobaldi: Toccate d'intavolatura di cimbalo. Das Alte Werk, Telefunken-Decca
1976 Scarlatti: Sonates. Philips
1978 Duphly - Balbastre: Musiques pour les princesses de France. Philips
1979 Couperin: Pièces de Clavecin. Astrée
1989 Froberger: Pièces de clavecin. Astrée
1990 Louis Marchand: Pièces de clavecin (1702). Astrée
1994 Mozart: 16 Sonatas pour violon et clavecin with Gérard Poulet. Philips
1994 Bach: Le clavier bien tempéré. Astrée
1995 Bach: Fantaisies, toccatas et Fugues. Astrée
1999 Jacquet de la Guerre: Œuvres pour clavecin. Astrée
1999 Bach: Inventions et Sinfonias. Astrée
1999 Bach: Variations Goldberg. Astrée
2000 Froberger: L'intranquilité. Astrée
2000 Couperin: Les Pièces de clavessin. Astrée
2003 Couperin: Les Barricades mystérieuses / Pièces de clavecin. Astrée
2012 Francois Couperin, Aparté
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.