10/10
Lise Vandersmissen, harp.
Etcetera, 2026.
As I listened to Lise Vandersmissen’s sumptuous new album, I found myself browsing her website. The first line on the homepage perfectly captures the exuberant spirit of her artistry: “Belgian harpist living on a canal boat in London.” There is a joyful ease to her playing, a gentle lilt that seems almost effortless yet is rooted in a profound understanding of the music beneath her fingers. Although she has made London her home since graduating with Great Distinction from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Our Roots returns to the hidden musical treasures of her native Belgium.
The album opens with Deux Pièces by the little-known Belgian composer and harpist Jeanne Adrienne Kufferath (1874–1919). The charming simplicity of the first piece, Simple Histoire, recalls the lyrical elegance of Henriette Renié. Vandersmissen plays with understated grace, lingering just long enough to let the warmth of each phrase resonate. Autrefois (“In Olden Days”) has the delicacy of a music box, unfolding with a Baroque sensibility before venturing into unexpectedly rich harmonic territory.
A striking contrast comes with La Danse des Sylphes by Félix Godefroid (1818–1887). Dubbed the “Paganini of the Harp,” Godefroid embraced the technical innovations of the Érard pedal harp and built an international career as both virtuoso and composer. He is perhaps best remembered by harpists for Mes exercices pour la harpe, a celebrated and often dreaded collection of studies. Here, Vandersmissen’s consummate technique is on full display as she performs on an Érard harp herself, capturing the instrument’s intimate, woody sweetness while revealing its remarkable brilliance and agility.
The mood shifts dramatically with Intermezzetto by contemporary Belgian composer Jacqueline Fontyn. Mysterious and electric, this atonal miniature employs an array of extended techniques that exploit every string of the modern pedal harp. Vandersmissen embraces the work’s sonic collisions with conviction, drawing the listener into its unfolding narrative.
Two original compositions demonstrate Vandersmissen’s gifts as both composer and performer. Nature’s Call is an exuberant, toe-tapping celebration of the outdoors in all its untamed frenzy. The album concludes with Lullaby for a Child, a work of disarming tenderness, offered with warmth, affection, and quiet intimacy.
