I've played the 1750 Stehlin in concert and also made a couple of CD
recordings on it (the complete harpsichord works of Nicolas Siret, and a
four-hand album with Olivier Baumont). It's a truly wonderful instrument,
and personally I prefer it to the Washington one, fine though that
harpsichord is.
Although only ten years separate the two, the Washington instrument
inhabits a later sound-world, perfect for Duphly and Royer. I find it less
ideal for Rameau and Couperin. The 1750 Stehlin, on the other hand, is a
little more backward-looking (in the good sense) and has a crispness and
immediacy that makes it a wonderful instrument for Couperin and Rameau.
Neither of them is, to my mind, quite ideal for the Chambonnières to
Marchand repertoire. The 1760 instrument is definitely not the right sound
world for Chambonnières to d'Anglebert. But the 1750 instrument, by
occupying the middle ground rather than the later sound-world, is a better
fit for the whole French repertoire. It's less of a stretch in either
direction.
Go for it!
Best wishes,
DM




*Davitt Moroney​​Professor Emeritus Department of Music*

*Morrison Hall*


*​University of California, Berkeley​CA 94720-1200*

On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 7:03 AM, Andrew Bernard <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Greetings All,
>
>
>
> I continue to be very interested in the Stehlin in Musée Antoine Lécuyer.
> The various recordings of it are just splendid. I have so far been
> unsuccessful in contacting the Museum to obtain technical details about
> this
> instrument. Does anybody have any photographs of it, especially a top down
> view? I’m interested to know how similar – or different – it is to the
> example in the Smithsonian. Wanting to build an instrument based on it, a
> technical drawing would be marvellous, but this may be pushing the bounds
> of
> reasonable expectations nowadays.
>
>
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
> Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
> tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
> versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
> [log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
> ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::