Notte Veneziana: Vivaldi, Albinoni, Marcello, Pescetti, Alvars, Godefroid (2012)
Xavier de Maistre, harp; L'arte del mondo; Werner Ehrhardt, concertmaster
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 291 Mb | Scans ~ 62 Mb | Time: 01:01:51
Classical, Baroque, Harp | Label: Sony Classical | # 88697937732
Xavier de Maistre, harp; L'arte del mondo; Werner Ehrhardt, concertmaster
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 291 Mb | Scans ~ 62 Mb | Time: 01:01:51
Classical, Baroque, Harp | Label: Sony Classical | # 88697937732
Xavier de Maistre is generally fêted as the artist who has managed to liberate the harp from its reputation for wonderful but very soft sounds, and establish it as a solo instrument in the concert hall. On his album "Notte Veneziana", the internationally successful harp virtuoso plays well-known concertos by the Venetian composers Vivaldi, Marcello and Albinoni in new arrangements, combining them with original compositions for solo harp such as the sonata by Giovanni Pescetti, Godefroid’s stunning set of variations on the popular tune “Carnaval de Venise”, and “La Mandoline” by 19th-century composer Elias Parish Alvars. Xavier de Maistre's aim is to make the listener forget completely that most of the Baroque concertos heard here were not originally written for the harp, but for different melody instruments. He finds it fascinating to bring out new timbres in the arrangements, some of which he pens himself. Vivaldi's famous concerto "Winter", in particular, seems to him to be predestined for playing on the harp, and his interpretation does indeed present this often-heard work in a totally new guise.