Word: harped
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Russian pianist lay on his deathbed in Jerusalem, and with his last breath he spoke to his young grandson. He told of an antique piano, with a tone so beautiful that it had been called the Harp of King David. Its richly carved case-so people said-was hewn of wood from Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. That part was legend, but the piano itself was fact. It stood, the old man told young Avner Carmi, in King Victor Emanuel's palace in Rome, and Avner's mission was to call on the King...
...piano's first recording was released this week (The Siena Pianoforte, Esoteric), and it sounds good enough, indeed, to be called King David's Harp. The record contains six little Scarlatti sonatas and one bigger one by Mozart (K. 333), elegantly played by rising Manhattan Pianist Charles Rosen. Although the piano's origin is closer to Mozart's day than Scarlatti's, the gem-pure Scarlatti pieces are more effectively unveiled. Through Pianist Rosen's subtle fingers-and the piano's remarkable characteristics-the piquant upper lines take on the diamond-point clarity...
Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (Julius Baker, Lillian Fuchs, Laura Newell; Decca). This is one of the sonatas for various instruments that occupied Debussy in 1915, just before he learned that he was dying of cancer. It is a beauty. Its outlines are firmer than usual, but the darkling tones of the viola, the haunting, woody quality of the low flute, and the romantic harp are as ecstatic as ever. Performance: hard to beat...
...last week's concert, Oberlin College's Finney Chapel turned into a thrumming, humming place, where the music was sometimes strong and distinct (Bach, arranged for 20 harps), sometimes mysteriously vague (Debussy, arranged for five harps), sometimes murmurous like the sea (Salzedo's own Fraicheur, for 54 harps). When it was over, the audience applauded enthusiastically. One observer noted that even the older performers looked young. Harp Master Salzedo had the answer: "Most harpists are young or look young. I have known only one old harpist, and she was not good. Harp keeps them young...
...Most harpists in the U.S. are women, but the few men do pretty well: some are leading harpists in symphony orchestras, and the two top harp names are Juilliard's Marcel Grandjany and Salzedo himself...