Xavier de Maistre - Glière, Mosolov: Harp Concertos (2022) [Hi-Res]

"Xavier de Maistre is the most successful harpist on the classical scene, enchanting audiences with skill and charm ..." wrote Brigitte about Xavier de Maistre. He shows this again with this album of fantastic recordings of romantic harp concertos. De Maistre is accompanied by the WDR Sinfonieorchester and the excellent Nathalie Stutzmann For the album, Xavier de Maistre chose the Harp Concerto by Reinhold Glière (1874-1956), one of the most popular romantic harp concertos in music history. It features beautiful flowing figures, cascading arpeggios and glissandi. Also included on the album is the harp concerto by Glière's student Alexander Mosolov (1900-1973), of which there is hardly any recording to date. It is characterized by beautiful catchy folksong-like melodies that the harp plays around with figurations and arpeggios; especially in the first movement, the harp presents itself with many solos and virtuoso cadenzas. As a tribute to ballet, Xavier de Maistre chose the enchanting piece "Prélude et La Romanesca" from Alexander Glasunov's (1865-1936) "Raymonda". The most popular piece on the album is certainly Tchaikovsky's (1840-1861) "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from his Nutcracker, op. 71, which was specially arranged for harp by de Maistre and is now brilliantly heard. An enchanting album of romantic works for the harp!