recordings in which the harp is heard

[phyllis-adams]

I am eternally grateful for having studied with Eddie Druzinsky , former Principal Harpist of the Chicago Symphony. Not only was he a spectacular example of how to project ANY harp part in any orchestral setting, in most recordings of the CSO from 1958′ ish to 1994′ ish, the harp is very audible. Recordings with Solti, Ozawa, Guailini (sp?), Leinsdorf , Martinon or any other conductor for that matter – the harp is as clear as a bell. Especially the Ravel recording of the Introduction & Allegro – each piece on this recording sounds like the harp is in front of the most prominent mike. Eddie really had a tremendous knack of sending each note to the last row of the “peanut gallery.” I’ve also become a fan of older Boston Symphony recordings with Charles Munch – Zhighera can also be heard as clear as a bell – check out Symphonie Fantastique – amazing!! The orchestral balance on these “old” recordings is far superior to more recent ones of any orchestra. I’m not “dissing” any of the amazing orchestral players today… I’m merely pointing out that the recordings from the”old days” are acoustically superior to most made today – maybe better recording halls or more brilliant engineers. Check it out!

[steven-todd-miller]

Total change of genre, but if you like ultra-cool lounge music, the harp in Esquivel’s “More of Other Worlds, Other Sounds” is beautifully recorded.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Druzinsky’s recordings are indeed exemplary. A good piece for comparison is Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. He also did a great Stravinsky Orpheus, which has major harp parts. If I want to learn a part, I like to find a Chicago recording. More recently, you can hear San Francisco harps pretty clearly, and Milwaukee. If you can find the Balanchine collection with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, you’ll hear the awesome Cynthia Otis playing a lot of exposed music. Minnesota’s Peter Grimes Incidental Music under Marriner is wonderful. It would be interesting to compare the various harpists who have played under Stravinsky and Robert Craft.

Chicago: Druzinsky

Minnesota: Joan Mainzer

San Francisco: Doug Rioth

Milwaukee: Danis Kelly

other players I like to hear: Dotian Levalier, National Symphony; Ann Pilot, Boston Symphony; Lise Nadeau Harmon, New Jersey Symphony; Reinhardt Elster and Florence Wightman, Metropolitan Opera; Lucile Lawrence, Stokowski and His Symphony Orchestra; Alice Chalifoux, Cleveland Orchestra; and others. And we should remember the wonderful second harpists, too.

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