On March 29, Anneleen Lenaerts released her sixth album, highlighting the works of Nino Rota and featuring Emmanuel Pahud on flute and Adrien Perruchon conducting the Brussels Philharmonic. In addition to Rota’s harp concerto, the Sarabanda e Toccata, and his flute and harp sonata, Lenaerts performs music from his films such as The Godfather and Taming of the Shrew. “Nino Rota is such a special composer, mainly known to the audience for his film music for movies like The Godfather, Dolce Vita, and Romeo and Juliet,” Lenaerts says. “But before he got famous doing this, he had written so many beautiful classical pieces that are not as well–known as they should be. People usually don’t know that he wrote many concerti, operas, ballets, even an oratorio and chamber music.” When asked what she enjoys most about his music, she references his classical works, saying, “It’s as if he always takes you on a trip full of images and true emotions. Even without a movie you can picture a story to it.”
Appointed principal harpist with the Vienna Philharmonic in 2010, Lenaerts was only the eighth woman to join the orchestra. She has won prizes at many competitions, including the Lily Laskine harp competition and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. She teaches at Maastricht University and records exclusively for Warner Classics. Her last album focused on clarinet and harp transcriptions of works by Schumann and Schubert, and in 2014, she released an album featuring the harp concertos of Glière, Jongen, and Rodrigo.
The album is available on iTunes and Amazon. To learn more about Lenaerts, visit her website at www.anneleenlenaerts.com/ or listen to her interview on episode 46 of the Harp Column podcast.
