Harpsichord virtuoso takes on J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the instrument for which they were originally composed
SUMMARY
- UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Jean Rondeau, harpsichord
- Keyboard virtuoso will play the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, of J. S. Bach
- Pre-concert talk by Derek Katz, UCSB Associate Professor of Musicology at 6:00 PM at Hahn Hall
- Please note Hahn Hall is located at the Music Academy of the West
- Friday Nov 4 | 7:00 PM | Hahn Hall
- $35 General Public | $10 UCSB Students (Current student ID required) (Includes facility fee)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu, (805) 893-3535
- Patrons can take advantage of discounts to see Jean Rondeau by subscribing to the Hear & Now series. For more info, visit: www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/subscribe-save/
“Rondeau is a wizard: forget grace, forget melancholy – this is brilliance.” Gramophone (U.K.)
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents Jean Rondeau, harpsichord on Friday, November 4 at 7:00 PM at Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West. As a solo artist and a member of the Baroque ensemble Nevermind, Jean Rondeau has expanded the boundaries of early music and earned universal acclaim for his recordings and live performances. His outstanding talent and innovative approach to keyboard repertoire will be on full display with his performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, presented in its complete form, with the indicated repeats and judicious insertion of moments of silence.
Jean Rondeau plays Scarlatti
About Jean Rondeau
Described as “one of the most natural performers one is likely to hear on a classical music stage” by The Washington Post, Jean Rondeau is a veritable global ambassador for his instrument. His outstanding talent and innovative approach to keyboard repertoire have been critically acclaimed, marking him out as one of today’s leading harpsichordists.
Rondeau’s 2022-2023 season begins with the completion of his extensive tour of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Having met with acclaim in several dozen major European venues throughout spring 2022, Rondeau rounds off the European portion of his tour with appearances in Spain and Germany before crossing the Atlantic for highly-anticipated performances in Washington D.C., Boston, Michigan, Santa Barbara, Vancouver and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Rondeau’s schedule also includes numerous performances of Poulenc’s Concert Champe?tre with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Rotterdam’s Philharmonisch Orkest, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, as well as engagements with Freiburger Barockorchester and The English Concert in programs dedicated to J.S. Bach, with Rondeau directing from the harpsichord. A notable season highlight is Rondeau’s upcoming artist portrait at the Wiener Konzerthaus, featuring him as a soloist with Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien under Marin Alsop, as a chamber musician alongside his fellow co-founders of the Nevermind Quartet and as a recitalist with his new solo program, Gradus ad Parnassum. Rondeau also performs this new program in multiple halls across Europe including the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall, the Tonhalle Dusseldorf and other venues across Germany and Spain, to coincide with the eponymous album’s upcoming release by Erato in spring 2023. Rondeau also continues various chamber music projects with long-term collaborators such as Nicolas Altstaedt, with whom Rondeau shares the stage at the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Nevermind Quartet.
In June 2022, Rondeau unveiled the world premiere of UNDR at La Grange au Lac d’Evian. Inspired by the Goldberg Variations and composed by Rondeau in collaboration with percussionist Tancre?de Kummer, this new creation conceived around two pianos and percussion will also be performed in 2022-2023 at the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Musikfest Stuttgart. UNDR is Rondeau’s latest foray into the world of new music, following the 2016 premiere of his first original film score for Christian Schwochow’s Paula at Locarno Film Festival. Contemporary music is important for Rondeau; in 2018, he performed the world premiere of Eve Risser’s Furake?la for solo harpsichord at the BBC Proms.
Rondeau is signed to Erato, with whom he has recorded several albums championing ancient music. His 2022 release of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations with its brand-new approach to the harpsichord masterpiece was met with international critical acclaim, described by Gramophone (U.K.) as “mesmerizing,” and earned a 5-star review from BBC Music Magazine. His previous album Melancholy Grace(2021) was heralded as “soulful […] varied, [and] wonderful” by The New York Times and “sublime” by Le Devoir. Barricades (2020), recorded with Thomas Dunford, likewise garnered widespread critical acclaim, as did his 2019 Scarlatti Sonata recording, which won that year’s Diapason d’Or de l’Anne?e. Earlier publications include his debut album Imagine (2015, winner of the Choc de Classica), Vertigo (2016, winner of that year’s Diapason d’Or), and Dynastie (2017).
In addition to his engagements as a soloist, recitalist and conductor, Rondeau is in high demand as a teacher and has given master classes worldwide from the Gstaad Academy to the University of Hong Kong. Jean Rondeau returns to The Juilliard School in New York for a master class as part of his North American tour at the beginning of the 2022-2023 season.
Rondeau studied harpsichord with Blandine Verlet at the Conservatoire National Supe?rieur de Musique in Paris, followed by training in continuo, organ, piano, jazz and improvisation and conducting. He completed his musical training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2012, he became one of the youngest performers ever to take first prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (MAfestival 2012), aged 21.
About UCSB Arts & Lectures
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Jean Rondeau is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with UCSB Department of Music. Tickets are $35 General Public / $10 UCSB Students (Current Student ID required) (Facility fee included)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2022-2023 season.