For nobility of expression, elegance of execution, and originality of programming, few recordings of this repertory can compete…

Skip Sempé is known for a love of spontaneity, which informs his solo performances and enlivens the duos. Technically demanding if idiomatic, Rameau's music has the power to impress and amuse. Asked what he thought was most important to Rameau, Sempé replied 'nobility and humour'. Both can be found in abundance on this CD (the former in the Sarabande, the latter in Le Triomphe and Les Cyclopes, which together with La Dauphine epitomise extrovert virtuosity) – but further delights await in L'Inharmonique and L'entretien des Muses, where we hear – thanks to Sempé's formidable command of 'rhetorical syntax' – Rameau seemingly conducting an inner dialogue with himself.
In the tradition begun by Couperin, Sempé and Fortin perform five duo arrangements of single Pièces de clavecin en concert and one air from Les Indes galantes. The luxuriant textures that result are perfect for La Forqueray, evoking as it does a viol-player known for his excesses, but they're less successful in other pieces where details are blurred and subtlety compromised, if nevertheless their phrasing is beautifully judged.
Several of the duo tracks from the CD are duplicated on the accompanying DVD, allowing us to glimpse the recording process. Commenting on the challenge of performing with another harpsichordist, Sempé concedes that it is almost impossible to achieve 'razor-edged' vertical precision and that instead the guiding principle is 'touch-oriented horizontality'. He's too modest. With a minimum of eye contact, their timing is perfection.

Nobility, humour and perfect ensemble-playing from Sempé and Fortin.

If one harpsichord sounds like "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof", this is a veritable orgy.