Claude-Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799) published his first harpsichord book in 1759, nine years after moving from his home town of Dijon to the metropolis of Paris. France had been flooded with Italian music and musicians for over 50 years, and Balbastre's style is influenced by the latest Italian trends, yet remains unmistakably and typically French.

The titles of the individual works refer to the surnames of important and influential personalities in the Parisian world of the mid to late 18th century. They are not necessarily portraits; this is more about the dedication, although this music is undoubtedly a wonderful picture of the world around Balbastre. One of the composer's biographers remarked: "More than portraits without words, which are intended to evoke a personality musically, the harpsichord pieces are a tribute or a sign of gratitude to that personality. The portrait painted in this way is merely allusive and mysterious."

For example, one of Balbastre's most famous and spectacular works, the Gigue La Lugeac (F major) in the Italian style, is probably a portrait of Louis XV's close companion, the Marquis Charles-Antoine de Guérin (1720-1782), who was born in the castle of Lugeac and was described by his contemporaries as "Le beau Lugeac".

In his own introduction to Balbastre's life and work, Marek Toporowski praises the First Book as a "true masterpiece" that combines French elegance with classical style; a pictorial language that alludes to Rameau's operas; a virtuosity reminiscent of Scarlatti, Mozart and Rameau; as well as masterful form and textual richness. Compared to other surviving music by Balbastre, Toporowski finds these pieces "less simple in terms of the classical economy of texture, but more sophisticated and baroque".

The Polish harpsichordist, organist, chamber musician and conductor Marek Toporowski was a student of Bob van Asperen and Daniel Roth. This new recording was made on a copy of a French harpsichord that Zygmunt Kaczmarski completed in 1984 for the harpsichordist, pianist and painter Julitta Slendzińska. "It is a fascinating, extraordinary instrument," he says, "in terms of timbre, with a full, expressive sound and enchanting dynamic possibilities."

- Claude Balbastre was an important French composer, organist and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He studied with Claude Rameau, the brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose influence is clearly noticeable in his music.

His most remarkable works include the Pièces de clavecin published in 1759. These pieces embody the refined and expressive style of the French harpsichord tradition and combine lyrical melodies with complex ornaments and lively rhythms. Like the works of François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Balbastre's harpsichord works often bear atmospheric titles such as "La d'Héricourt", "La de Caze" and "La Lugeac", which refer to prominent personalities of his time. His Pièces de clavecin display a wide range of textures and moods, from playful and light-hearted dances to expressive movements.

He integrated elements of the galant style, characterized by clarity and grace, alongside more dramatic and virtuosic passages, sometimes even adapting orchestral effects for the harpsichord. Marek Toporowski is a harpsichordist, organist, pianist and conductor and is one of the leading Polish interpreters of historical performance practice. He is a scholar and a well-known collector of historical instruments. Marek Toporowski's complete piano works by Pinto, piano sonatas by Hyacinthe Jadin and violin sonatas by Ferdinand Ries are also available.