Fernando Valenti; Broadened Appeal of Harpsichord

Fernando Valenti, who was credited with popularizing the harpsichord in the United States, has died of a heart attack, it was learned this week.

Valenti, who spiced his concerts and television appearances with wit and comment, was 63 when he suffered a heart attack Thursday while riding in a taxicab from Kennedy Airport in New York to Red Bank, N.J.

He made his New York Town Hall debut in 1951 and for the next 35 years was heard in concert around the world. In the mid-1980s he taught at Yale University, where he replaced his late teacher, Ralph Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick had studied under the legendary Wanda Landowska.

Valenti also founded the harpsichord departments at the Juilliard School in New York, the Cleveland Institute and California Institute of the Arts.

Not only was he considered a superb player, especially of Domenico Scarlatti, but he had an engaging manner as he commented on the pieces he played. That made him especially popular on television.

It was typical of him to introduce a piece requiring fast fingering and crossed hands as “the TV sonata--not much to listen to, but fun to watch.” His more popular recordings included Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and “Goldberg Variations.” Conductors he performed under included Leopold Stokowski, Bruno Walter, Serge Koussevitzky, Fritz Reiner and Pablo Casals.