Sarah O’Brien is principal harp with the Munich Philharmonic and before that had the same position with the Royal Concertgebouw. She has assembled a fine program here which shows her versatility and stays clear of the usual Romantic period works found on most concert harp recitals. Instead we a range of works running from the Baroque to the contemporary trio of pieces by the leading oboist and composer Heinz Holliger. They are not as serialized-sounding as other of his works I have heard. the Praludium explores the very lowest reverberant depth of concert harp spookiness, which works terrifically in Audite crystalline surround sound. You can immerse yourself in the 360 degrees of chilling sounds which seem more real than anything electronically-generated.
The first two French composers demonstrate the special flair composers of that nationality have shown in writing for the concert harp. It is a fine opportunity to hear the little-performed sonata by one of the leading woman composers – Germaine Tailleferre. The Britten work is the composer’s only one for solo harp. In six extremely short movements, it concludes with an adaptation of a Welsh folk song which was also used as a church hymn.
– John Sunier
