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Music for Solo Harp Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Liebesträume No. 3 (arranged Renié) Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848) Harp Solo from Lucia di Lammermoor (arranged Zabel) Mikhail GLINKA (1804-1857) Nocturne Hugo REINHOLD (1854-1935) Impromptu Op.28 No. 3 Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849) Etude Op.25 No. 1 (arranged Posse) Franz ROSETTI (c.1750-1792) Sonata No. 2 Louis SPOHR (1784-1859) Fantasie Op.35 Wilhelm POSSE (1852-1925) Etudes Nos. 2, 7 Elias PARISH-ALVARS (1808-1849) Serenade Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Un Sospiro (arranged Renié) Elizabeth Hainen (harp) Rec. St. John Chrysostom Church, Ontario, March 2001 NAXOS 8.555791 [61:56]

The works here range from those written for single and double action pedal harp. All are played with consummate grace and room-to-spare dexterity by the principal harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Many are of course transcriptions – and they sound none the less splendid for all that – though greater amplitude of textual and colouristic potential probably resides in the works of executant-composers such as those by Elias Parish-Alvars, whose delightful Nocturne is here. The rippling figurations of the Donizetti serve notice of Hainen’s virtuosity but the sustenance of melody lines and the tonal shading is equally notable. The Glinka is a pleasant surprise – light but delightfully lyric and crisply accented – and the Reinhold, by contrast, sounds especially tricky, especially in its early pages. The arrangement of Rosetti’s Keyboard Sonata No.2 makes for a resonant twelve minutes’ worth of explicitly Haydnesque music-making. For an example of the superior kind of voicings that a real virtuoso can exploit from the harp I suggest a listen to the eight and a half minutes of Spohr – really splendid stuff textually and digitally. An evocative recital then and evocatively recorded. There sounds like a moment of transient distortion on my copy (Liebesträume No.3 at around 3.30) but it’s very brief and hardly disturbs the passage of this elegant programme. Jonathan Woolf see also review by Patrick Waller Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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