Harp and Co are a small but very productive company and their speciality
is unsurprisingly clear. At the heart of their catalogue of thirty-plus CDs
is the harp and the harpist Rachel Talitman. This Belgian company, based in
Brussels, is immersed in the repertoire of France and the Pays-Bas. They do
however make forays further afield. Standing to one side from the more
popular mixed recital of miniatures approach they will, as here, concentrate
on one composer, as often as not. In this case we have eleven works by
Alphonse Hasselmans, a nineteenth century Liègois. All but two are for harp
alone.
The lively
Chanson de Mai flows pleasingly along.
Conte de
Noël is, as the title suggests, more in the nature of a fantastic
fairytale narrative as is
Ballade.
Reverie may be a dream
but it is a melancholy one. The
Nocturne is more tuneful than
suggestive and there is even a hint of Spanish sultriness about it.
Gnomes has charm and bass-deep grotesquerie about it. These
Gnomes are cousins to Grieg's trolls from
Peer
Gynt.
Valse de Concert resounds with delicacy and commandingly
grand statements.
Gitana plays with Iberian shadows and ancient
courtly dances - coal black and glinting silver points. Talitman is joined
by Noé Nathorp (cello) for
Confidence and
Prière. Each
spins a long and toastily soulful legato over the harp's plangently
decorous tracery.
Prière is a touch sentimental. The disc ends with
another harp solo,
La Source. This has strong forward drive:
urgency as well as romantic afflatus.
The music enjoys a very close-up recorded perspective. It's an
agreeable effect and has unblushing impact. Talitman's harp
positively basks in such microscopic attention. The supportive liner-note
which sketches in the composer's life is in French and English.
The Harp & Co catalogue would be well worth exploring. I have not heard
the following discs but if I get the opportunity to hear them I will report
further: Jean-Michel Damase harp concertos (CD 5050-06), Andres harp
concertos (CD 5050-09), Damase chamber music (CD 5050-18) and Jean Cras (CD
5050-24).
Rob Barnett
