Froberger: Suites & Toccatas

Alina Rotaru, harpsichord: Baroque suites and toccatas by Johann-Jakob Froberger (1616-67)

About the album

The harpsichordist Alina Rotaru plays selected works by Johann Jacob Froberger, one of the most enigmatic composers of 17th C. harpsichord music. A subject of countless speculations, his programmatic and personal music is a creation of an exquisite and sensitive mind, masterfully crafted with enigmatic and mystical elements, and points to Frobergers personal connections to thinkers and alchemists of his time.

Alina Rotaru shows with her interpretation a spirited and insightful image of the brilliant and profound thinker, virtuoso and traveler Froberger was. This recording was made on the original Ruckers harpsichord dated 1623/1745) at Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Music video

Watch Alina Rotaru play a piece from her album at the original recording location: 

Music magazine review

"This impressive overview summarizes the essential aspects of the Austrian composer, namely the Italian influence dating from his extended stays with his teacher Frescobaldi, his attraction to descriptive music dominated by the depiction of dramatic or melancholic events, and his affinity for the French dance suite, which he organized in a very personal way.

This plurality of styles requires a deep understanding of the composer's writing and the often very subtle peculiarities of his notation. The young Romanian harpsichordist Alina Rotaru succeeds in combining breadth and originality of detail in the toccatas, which owe so much to the Italian style. More virtuosic than meditative, the free passages sing with a certain authority, while imperious accents aptly illustrate the jolts of harmony. The counterpoint remains absolutely clear in the most tense rhythmic superimpositions, and the sense of timing is particularly remarkable: the unique timbre and tone of the splendid Rückers de Neufchâtel are used to great effect.

This authority gives a somewhat aggressive aspect to certain dances (the courantes), while the excess of rhythmic stylization detracts somewhat from the flexibility and songfulness of the work as a whole. That said, what breath in the noble sarabandes and brilliant gigues, what eloquence in the lamentos, which rank among the most beautiful versions."
Philippe Ramin, Diapason