Harpsichordist Lionel Party At Curtis Hall

The clues were tenuous: occasional slips and, in the Italian Concerto, some annoying rushing of tempo. But the suspicion was that the playing - although more often than not attractive and laced with distinction - was not Party's best.

If the musical tension that begets structure seemed missing to the program overall, Party's artistry has many strengths, which came through clearly.

One is a flair for the rhythmic nuances and irregularities shaping the French and Italian schools more than the German symmetries. Another is the delicacy of touch and instinct for color ideal to the secular composers of the Latin courts. A third is the combination of intellectual and emotional understanding necessary to unlock the original conceits of the too-little- known Frescobaldi. In the Cento Partite, Party's passagework savored the harmonic twists and rhythmic thrusts of a radical mind.

As for tone painting, he was in strong form in most of Couperin's nine pieces, but especially, the gently lilting "La Tendre Fanchon," and "Les Agremens," the latter's voice leadings sometimes deliciously delayed. In the fullblooded, circular resonances of the final, "Les Ondes," he hit his stride.

The finest of the Bach playing was the first section of the Chromatic Fantasy, whose undulating ruminations had a continually rhapsodic splendor. Throughout the recital, Party's gifts pointed to Domenico Scarlatti. So it was a pleasure to hear one of his 550 Sonatas brilliantly rendered as encore.