Harpsichord Heaven

Photos from Thursday's harpsichord unveiling and concert:


don't touch! that's real 24 carat gold leaf.


Beverly Biggs with her harpsichord.


Opus 333 by harpsichord maker Richard Kingston.






Painted by Lisa Creed.



Below: Kingston, Creed and Funaro.





And finally! Chart Gawking...


"Freely": 4th movement of Sonata for Three Harpsichords (1998) by Chapel Hill composer Edwin McLean.

"My work has a lot of Latin influence because I lived in Miami for 25 years," says McLean.

His "Sonata for Two Harpsichords," which starts with a tango movement, was also performed at Thursday's concert. The entire program, which includes Bach works for harpsichord and baroque string quintet, is being repeated Friday in Chapel Hill and Saturday in Raleigh (see calendar).

Richard Kingston, who made Funaro's Opus 333, is a leading harpsichord maker with his workshop in Mooresboro, NC.

Harpsichord for Hipsters

Coolest thing ever! Durham's Elaine Funaro Love champions new music for the harpsichord via her foundation, Aliénor. I've had the privilege of meeting Elaine and hearing her explain the instrument's unique qualities and history.

Voila: She's being interviewed on today's The State of Things with Frank Stasio.

The Millennium Opus 300 Harpsichord, commissioned for the Mize Collection. Harpsichord maker: Richard Kingston. Lid painting: June Zinn Hobby.

Not only is Aliénor commissioning new works for the baroque keyboard, but Funaro and friends are also creating custom harpsichords, handpainted (as the old ones were) by modern artists.

Funaro is going to perform on a spectacular new harpsichord built for her by Richard Kingston over the next three days, in all three Triangle cities:

Durham: School of Science & Math
Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 7:30pm

Chapel Hill: University United Methodist Church
Friday, November 13, 2009 - 8:00pm

Raleigh: Meredith College
Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 8:00pm

Donations accepted at the door. Why miss this? I can't think of a reason.

UPDATE: See my PHOTOS of the Durham event here.



Links:

See photos of Funaro's new harpsichord, Opus #333, at the website of Lisa Creed, the artist who painted it.

Hear samples from Funaro's recordings here.

A big old inventory of harpsichord sound clips at the Aliénor site, here.

mother of all guitar auctions

For a long time, I've toyed with the idea of dedicating an edition of Azucar y Candela to something very special in salsa history: the electric guitar solo.

Elliott Randall, known for his work with Steely Dan and the early SNL Band, is responsible for a lot of those, infusing rock flavor into salsa albums by Roberto Roena, Bobby Valentin and Larry Harlow.

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, Randall will be auctioning off some of his rare and storied guitars at London's FAME Bureau, an auction house that has handled the music memorabilia of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Sinatra. (If you can't make it across the pond for the live auction, you can still bid online.)

Check out the catalog of beauties and read more about Elliott Randall's career at his website, www.elliott-randall.com.

Correction added: auction will indeed take place on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 27, not Nov. 29 as previously posted.

gone, baby, gone

Mike Nifong's guitars fetched just over $5000 today at Cindy Smith Auctions. TV and print newsfolk showed up to capture the moment, and applause greeted the winning bids.

Meanwhile, I got a kick out of this storefront next to the auction house:



Wonder if they can mend reputations.

Weird Karma

In weird news: 3 vintage guitars of disbarred former Durham DA Mike Nifong will be auctioned off this Sunday (10/12), as ordered by an NC bankuptcy court.



The guitars go on the block at 1 pm at Cindy Smith Auctions in Hillsborough.