Harp of Ages

Courtney Hershey Bress, harp, and the Colorado Symphony,
Andrew Litton, conductor. Naxos, 2024.

Also of note this month is a fabulous recording of Michael Daugherty’s Harp of Ages with the terrifically talented harpist Courtney Hershey Bress and the Colorado Symphony, for whom the music was written. Daugherty delights in the harp’s ancient history, dipping us in and out of musical styles in seven movements—like the seven pedals on the harp. A raucous lyre-playing Sappho is followed by a sacred, yet tempo-shifting, Sister Juana, a Mexican harp playing nun. Here we skip ahead with a fictional Star Trek character Nyota Uhura, back to one of the most famous harpists of all, King David, and back to more modern days with Harpo Marx, Dorothy Ashby, then finally to Ireland. Playful, joyous, and always surprising, this recording is a must-have.

Harposphera

Laura Lotti, harp. Self-released, 2024.

Changing the dial 180-degrees is the captivating album from electric harpist Laura Lotti. Harposphera fuses the innovative with the traditional. Beginning with a dreamscape of multi-effects, ambient and electronic sounds plus prepared techniques, Lotti uses every part of the instrument to great effect, even knocking on the soundboard to conjure a dance rhythm. It’s so beautiful and eclectic, you lose sight of where you are, maybe back in time at a dance hall or flying through the cosmos with a view into a starscape of nebulae and far-off galaxies. Lotti’s oeuvre could be described as atmospheric or ambient, but I feel a deeper connection to the classical world, especially in the aria-like melody of Stargazing which moves the listener gently beyond the harp into the world of humpback whales and celestial choirs. Lotti’s stated goal is to redefine the sonic capacity of the harp and to foster a new identity. In this album she achieves that completely.