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Salopian, in England, is the only place I know that has the heavy-gauge nylon Pirastro strings. The medium gauge is not that much better. After about six months they get looser. Which type you use depends on the age of your harp, right, Carl?
It’s interesting that one of those performances was left intact on a live recital cd of Zabaleta’s. It’s a lesson in keeping going no matter what happens. My bugaboo has been the Pescetti Sonata.
What is the worst of it is, that this jerk put it in a blog for the world to read. What if he had been given a different bass to play and it had plastic strings, and a tailpin that kept sliding in? Would he want someone else to tell all about it?
Major solutions are needed for back pain. And that would be wearing a brace for support when practicing, and to create good posture habits; and doing core-muscle exercise on a regular basis. When your core muscles are strong, back pain vanishes. If it’s muscular.
I agree, we have a broad and rich repertoire. The Faure is a masterpiece, so it is okay to hear it again if it is well played. I may record it, because I know it. We all study it, so it is inevitable. But we definitely, at this time, have way too many recordings of the same kinds of pieces, and way too few of even standard repertoire. And certain recordings have not been re-issued, like Zabaleta’s recording of the Ginastera, Saint-Saens and Tailleferre concerti. But another force behind recordings is what repertoire the competitions are requiring, as the contestants are among the people most likely to make cds. I would love to have the money to set up a first-class harp-focused recording company.
Merz-Huber has two kinds of comprehensive coverage: through ASTA membership, or without it. I formerly had insurance through a membership in Chamber Music America with Clarion. It does not seem to be the best to have a pool of insured people who are all harpists, there can be too many claims. If you are in a larger pool of all kinds of instruments, I think you can get better coverage and rates.
Suppleness of the fingers is an entirely different matter. To me, that comes from good finger movement, closing all the way, natural hand position, and maximal releasing of pressure or tension. The best way to develop it is with about 30 minutes of daily exercises, such as LaRiviere.
I recommend filing the fingertips with very fine sandpaper once a week if you are playing more than two hours a day, and when not playing, moisturizing with moisture balm, wildroot, or pond’s dry skin cream. Ideally, you want something with lanolin in it. When you are going to play, your fingers should be clean and dry. Wildroot is a hair cream. There are different types of skin. The harder your skin gets, the more often you need to abrade it, but the fine paper is much better than an emery board, which can tear your skin.
For doing one movement only, I think the Handel is the best, or the Dussek. I think the Dittersdorf is a better bet than the Boieldieu. The Gliere is too boring to me to mention. If Russians look down on his music, I take that as a word to the wise.
You can do the Dittersdorf in recital with a harpsichordist, or a small ensemble of strings and winds. The Boeildieu is much harder than it might look, I think. It also only shows off the right hand most of the time. The Dittersdorf has better personality, it has warmth and charm when played well. It’s actually an arrangement by Pillney that is a re-creation of the piece, something he did quite well.
