„Gradus ad Parnassum“ - The harpsichordist Jean Rondeau climbs to the summit across the epochs

The new album by French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau takes us to the summit of the Muses, the mythological Mount Parnassus. Entitled "Gradus ad Parnassum", the early music star, who is as passionate as he is flamboyant, presents original and hand-arranged works for his instrument, from the Renaissance master Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina to the classics Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to the dawn of modernism in the early 20th century - true to his attitude: "I don't want to limit myself to just one repertoire or one era of music history."

The works of Johann Joseph Fux, who wrote music history in 1725 with his musical textbook of the same name, have a special link to the title of Jean Rondeau's new album. Even the young Mozart learned his craft from it. The title "Gradus ad Parnassum" is also given to the still popular collection of etudes by Mozart's contemporary Muzio Clementi - whom Claude Debussy respectfully and ironically named "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum" in the opening piece of his piano suite "Children's Corner" about a hundred years later. It was a matter of honour for Jean Rondeau, whom the specialist magazine Rondo already attested "balanced elegance" and "swinging vitality" on the occasion of his debut album with works by Johann Sebastian Bach, that these two composers also come into their own on the new album: an exciting expansion of his repertoire that shows which facets there are still to discover on his fascinating instrument.

The album will be released on 03 March 2023 by Warner Classics & Erato.

Further information, pre-order and the first single at the following link.