The sound of the harpsicord will festival hall (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

The sound of the harpsicord will festival hall

LAST year Cirencester musician Richard Lester had a harpsichord made especially for him.

It is an exact copy of the kind of instrument on which the Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti would have composed and it is being used by Richard in his attempt to become the first musician to record all 555 of Scarlatti's sonatas, hopefully by 2007, the 250th anniversary of the composer's death.

The harpsichord was made by Cheltenham-based early piano restorer Michael Cole, based on an 18th century Portuguese instrument and now Highworth artist, Ann March, has decorated the lid with a copy of an original painting of the time, based on classical mythology.

The central oval on the keyboard flap shows the goddess Athene wearing a plumed helmet and spear and carrying Zeus's sword.

An owl, representing wisdom, accompanies her. Artemis' chariot led by silver horses, draws the moon across the sky and Pegasus is also depicted.

Next to this, on a background portraying the slopes of Mount Parnassus and the Oracle at Delphi, Apollo, the central figure, playing the lyre, is surrounded by the nine muses representing such arts as music, dance, drama, comedy, tragedy and poetry. Three priestesses sleep in the right hand corner.

This Saturday, June 7, Richard will be playing his harpsichord in the Purcell Room at the Royal Festival Hall where he will be performing, not surprisingly, 20 of Scarlatti's sonatas entitled Flamenco Sketches.