Harp trouvailles

Basel harpist Sarah O'Brien presents her second solo album Impromptu. She used the difficult corona break to realize her long-cherished wish. In her constant search for original harp pieces, some of which are still lying dormant in archives, she has found what she was looking for. It is astonishing how many of the pieces collected here are hardly ever heard in the concert hall. It is definitely worth listening to this originally compiled CD.

Impromptus are perfectly suited to the harp, they are character pieces, but also have something improvisatory about them. For example the Impromptu para arpa by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999), who is best known for his guitar concerto. Or the beautiful-sounding Impromptu by Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (1864-1955), who was a friend of César Franck but is hardly known as a composer. Some pieces are inspired by the well-known Italian harpist Clelia Gatti Aldrovandi (1901-1989). Like Sarah O'Brien, she collaborated with several composers to create new works for her instrument. Paul Hindemith was not the only one to write his harp sonata in close collaboration with Gatti Aldrovandi. Nino Rota (1911-1979) and Virgilio Mortari (1902-1993) were also motivated by her to write harp compositions in which they drew on old dances such as Sarabande or Gaillarde.

It is easy to hear that these works are written with the harp in mind. They bring out many facets of the instrument without being gimmicky. Sarah O'Brien knows how to savor these in a refined way. In Hindemith's sonata, for example, the calmly spread out timbral characteristics are wonderfully effective.

O'Brien was principal harpist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Munich Philharmonic for over 20 years before becoming a professor at the music academies in Zurich and Basel. Several of her students have won prizes at international competitions. She has performed as a soloist under Bernhard Haitink, Hans Vock and Hartmut Haenchen, as well as with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Fabio Luisi and Árpád Gérecz. She has also performed with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the chamber orchestras of Basel and Zurich.

Their rich artistic experience is not only evident in the interpretative qualities of this new CD recording, but also in the dramaturgical composition of the pieces. It is rich in contrast and variety. O'Brien arranged the compositions from the French Baroque period himself. There are two onomatopoeic pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau with the titles Le rappel des oiseaux and La pouleand the humorous Le Tic-Toc- Choc by François Couperin.

O'Brien frames all these treasures with the two most important and best-known pieces: the Impromptu-caprice op. 9 by Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) and the Impromptu in D flat major op. 86 by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). You don't have to be a harp fan to enjoy listening to this CD.