Double Dose Of Bachs By Daring Harpsichordist! You can tell a lot about a keyboardist from their approach to the seemingly straightforward “Aria” that begins and ends the journey, and which first appeared in Anna Magdalena Bach’s 1725 Notebook. Moersch plays it ruminatively, lingering over details, calling out especially expressive moments, and applying her own articulation to melodic figures.Her treatments of the minor-key variations (Nos. 15, 21, and 25) are particularly expressive . . . .but her playing in the fast movements is flawless — uniformly brilliant and crisp.
–Early Music America
Harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax-Moersch gives extraordinary performance of the Goldberg Variations at Bethlehem Bach Festival. Following her tender, lilting reading of the Aria, Mattax-Moersch really got into her virtuoso grove with Variation No. 5, with its numerous rapid 16-note sequences and hand-crossing movements. Those hand-crossings would get more dazzling as the work progressed, along with wonderful execution of swift running passages and lovely trills. The flamboyant rapid runs of Variation No. 20, a virtuosic two-part toccata, was a real delight,
The Morning Call, Bethlehem
“In The Bach Legacy, harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax Moersch presents a provocative, ear-opening program of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and three of his sons that helps us understand their importance in the developing music world of the 18th century. As a bonus, it’s also great listening!”
—Phil’s Classical Reviews, Atlanta Audio Club
“Mattax brings this music across with style, the sort of panache that can make listeners think that only French Baroque music is the pinnacle of good taste and refinement.… a nonpareil harpsichordist.”
—Early Music America
“…expertly played by a sympathetic musician fully aware of the challenges of contextualizing this music…. The music often twists and turns like a stream breaking its banks – and (almost) regretting it. And Mattax enters into the water without forgetting what’s on land. She interprets such developments as Friedemann’s exercising a just freedom, rather than caprice. But by achieving just the right balance between detachment – standing back from – and involvement – absorption in – this aspect of the spirit of the composer’s musical invention, and allowing a stern but relaxed grasp of his structures to inform her playing throughout, she truly goes quite a way towards making the case for a greater understanding of his musical world. Then she supplies many a pointer to that appreciation. Tunefulness, pulse and textures that at times sound richer than they can be on a solo harpsichord all contribute to our taking a real delight in Friedemann’s music for what it is.
—Classical Net
“Charlotte Mattax Moersch is a sensitive and imaginative player… The Allemande has just the right lilt, just the right nobility, and the more extroverted pieces… have the appropriate pomp and circumstance. I’d choose [this recording] hands down.”
–American Record Guide
This was my first exposure to her playing, and after having heard this disc several times, it is clear to me that she is a world-class performer…. She interprets this music with sensitivity and intelligence, and is particularly successful in keeping Couperin’s rhythms flexible without distorting them, and without compromising apparent spontaneity.
–Fanfare Magazine
Charlotte Mattax Moersch, organ, played with rich, colorful tone, virtuosic agility, and robust phrasing…. [and] contributed an energetic and expressive obbligato on the chamber organ.
–New York Arts
“Dashing, intelligent playing.”
–The Classical Times, London
Mattax Moersch has excellent hands…immaculate touch….and the finesse with which she approached some complicated and detailed music was always striking. She used the prelude of the opening Troisième Suite by Jean Henry D’Anglebert (1635-1692) to make an introspective exploration of the Stehlin’s range of sounds, taking time with the unusual harmonic changes…. It was followed by…. some flashy selections from [Armand-Louis Couperin’s] Pièces de Clavecin: a playful, flirtatious L’Arlequine with a tart, shiny flavor, an enigmatic La Chéron, and a fancy-fingered La Blanchet.
–Ionarts, Washington, D.C.
Charlotte Mattax Moersch gives a line sense of air and space to her delivery. Everything is fit perfectly into place, flowing naturally, without ever seeming too fast or slow. She integrates the profuse ornamentation smoothly, which is a primary challenge in playing these pieces. The tender pieces sing. It’s harder to obtain the seven extra pieces elsewhere. That by itself is a sufficient reason to buy this excellent recording.
Mattax Moersch has had a fine 35-year career already as harpsichordist and researcher, and sounds at the top of her game here.
–American Record Guide
…As a student of Gustav Leonhardt, Kenneth Gilbert, Bob van Asperen, and Albert Fuller, and currently as professor of harpsichord at the University of Illinois, Moersch plays with studious attention to D’Anglebert’s table of agréments, being true not just to the letter of the music but to its spirit. Her playing is fluent and expressive, bringing out the emotional feelings behind the notes.
–Fanfare