On Nov. 15, 2018, harpist Floraleda Sacchi, alongside composer Claudia Montero and producer José Domenech, won a Latin Grammy Award for their classical album, Magica y Misteriosa. Recorded in March 2018 with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, the album features a concerto for harp and strings, which was composed for and dedicated to Sacchi. “I am honored to work with such talented partners and grateful to the Academy for their choice. I hope this will help to make my music known to a wider audience,” Sacchi says.
Sacchi’s relationship with Montero goes back to 2010. “[Montero] sent me a piece for flute, viola, and harp trio. I liked it a lot and asked her to write a solo piece. She composed Evocaciones for me, which I played many times, and many more pieces over the next few years.” Sacchi has enjoyed their collaborations over the past eight years, adding, “She is open to my solutions and ideas. She gives beautiful music, then allows you the freedom to work on it with an open mind and a humility that is rare to find in composers.”
When asked to describe the concerto, she calls the three–movement work a big tango that celebrates Buenos Aires “Claudia’s writing is clean and minimal and would die unless the performer puts a lot of sincere feeling into it.” Says Montero of the piece, “Mágica y Misteriosa completes my creative corpus of strings with strings. Dreams come true—it happens when your dream is intense and you struggle to achieve it.”
The premiere is available to stream on YouTube, and the album is available for purchase on Amazon. To learn more about Sacchi, visit www.floraleda.com.
