Translucent Sound Harp music from Xavier de Maistre - appreciated by GERALD FENECH 'Performances are lusciously executed, and both soloist and orchestra are in perfect harmony ...'

The title of this disc, La Harpe Reine, is indeed apt, as it was Marie Antoinette of France who was responsible for the revival of the harp. There can be very few musical instruments as ancient as the harp which have owed their survival and subsequent flourish solely to fashion and to amateur practice, but at the beginning of the seventeenth century the instrument was in decline. When the Dauphine Marie Antoinette arrived from Austria in 1770 aged only fourteen, the harp was on the way back and was already a relatively widespread instrument, particularly in Paris. Add to this revival, the future Queen's boundless passion for the instrument, and we have the harp's position assured for posterity...

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK

LES ARTS FLORISSANTS

WILLIAM CHRISTIE

HARMONIA MUNDI

HARP MUSIC