Fernando Valenti (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, 4 December 1926 - Red Bank,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, 6 September 1990) was an American harpsichordist. After studying with

José Iturbi José Iturbi Báguena (28 November 189528 June 1980) was a Spanish conductor, pianist and harpsichordist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals '' Thousands Cheer'' (1943), ''Music for Milli ...

and

Ralph Kirkpatrick Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick (; June 10, 1911April 13, 1984) was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings. Life ...

and débuting in 1950, he recorded extensively, especially in the 1950s, and taught for forty years until his death. One of his most-noted students was

Igor Kipnis Igor Kipnis (September 27, 1930January 23, 2002) was a German-born American harpsichordist, pianist and conductor. Biography The son of Metropolitan Opera bass Alexander Kipnis, he was born in Berlin, where his father was singing with the Berlin ...

. His recordings of Bach (two outstanding early ones for the

Lyrichord Discs Lyrichord Discs is a record label specializing in world music and classical music. In 2015, Multicultural Media acquired the catalog of Lyrichord. History The label was founded in 1950 by Peter Fritsch, an Austrian immigrant who moved to America ...

label) and Scarlatti (29 LPs with 346 sonatas for

Westminster Records Westminster Records was an American classical music record label, issuing original recordings until 1965. It was co–founded in 1949 by Mischa Naida (who later founded Musical Heritage Society), the owner of the Westminster Record Shop in New Y ...

, recorded 1951 - 1961, another 8 sonatas for Music Guild in 1962, and a final set of 12 previously recorded sonatas for the

Musical Heritage Society Musical Heritage Society was an American mail-order record label founded in New York City in 1962 by Michael "Mischa" Naida (1900–1991), co-founder of Westminster Records, and T. C. Fry Jr. (1926–1996). Background After a small initial group ...

in 1964) were highly regarded, and he was regularly mentioned in the pages of

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

In one of the odder musical pairings of the 1960s, Valenti was on the same bill as Jimi Hendrix on Thanksgiving night, November 28, 1968, at New York's historic Philharmonic Hall. In 1982 he published the well-received harpsichord method book ''The Harpsichord: a Dialogue for Beginners'' in a socratic style, saying "Many years ago I promised myself that I would never put in print anything that even vaguely resembled a 'method' for harpsichord, and this is it."

References

External links

* Obituary by

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n19_v42/ai_8914242 rticle not found 6 January 2012* Brief biography http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Valenti-Fernando.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Valenti, Fernando 1926 births 1990 deaths American harpsichordists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians