Search - Antonio Rosetti :: Antonio Rosetti: Six Harp Sonatas

Single Action Excellence

J. Kara Russell | Hollywood - the cinderblock Industrial cubicle | 03/05/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This marvelous CD shares 6 Anton Rossler Rossetti "accompanied" sonatas played on a Single Action Harp. Having known about and admired the visual workmanship of reproduction harps by Beat Wolf, Schaffhausen, it was a delight to hear one so fully displayed in such essential and delightful harp sonatas.



Harpist Charlotte Balzereit lives up to every rave review in this recording, having power, delicacy, charm and phenomenal dexterity in these Sonatas. Single Action harp is a different animal from the usual double action concert harp, so it is great credit to her ability to be so facile with this instrument.



These sonatas are a joy. From the late Baroque, early classical period, they have audible kinship to the quitar and lute sonatas of the Baroque era (and this sound is part of why these early harp works remain favorites of mine), and the simplicity of the early harp era that echos the "fashion" for simplicity and rusticisty of that era.

As mentioned in the liner notes, the middle "romance" sections also foreshadow the coming Romantic era, but one could also say they harken back to the very romantic and melodic lute songs of the renaissance.



"Accompanied" sonatas were written to be played with and optional (true) accompaniment by (usually) a violin or flute, but they are most often played without them. Composer Belle Van Zulen employed this technique in some of her works, but often the violin would be very bored indeed, just supplying an occaisional friligree; so these sonatas do not miss anything by being played on harp alone with no "acompaniment."



Rosetti's Sonatas are utterly charming, but not entirely equal. Some sections sound a little trite or derivative, and one of the "Romance" sections is little more than repeated octaves, and two of them end very abruptly (unlike later adagio Sonata sections which can often stand alone and have their own complete ending). Yet overall, this pieces are so extremely satisfying that it is no wonder that that they have remained true favorites for all these centuries. This group is much more accessible to the average listener than later, more complex Sonata groups.



This is my favorite period of harp music, the early years, and these can easily be enjoied by any listener - being aware that the single action harp has it's own timbre, less full than the current harp, but fuller than a celtic harp. (The single action harp is the harp that was the transition between these instruments.)



This is an excellent, enjoiable introduction to historical music in general, and historic harp music in particular, played to perfection, sometimes with astonishing speed, by Ms. Balzereit. Don't let this precious rare gem pass you by.



note: I first came across this CD as the ONLY harp CD found in a local small town library. What a joy!"