Romantic Music for Flute and Harp

Breathtakingly Beautiful Music

"Music I heard with you was more than music." ~ Adam Zagajewski, Poet ~

Music speaks its own language. According to Thomas Carlyle, music is well said to be the language of angels. That being said, then this CD of breathtakingly beautiful music belongs to the angels. Listen closely and let your ears capture its heavenly sounds that speak of tranquil beauty and whisper to your ears down to your heart and soul. With a rare but charming combination of flute and harp, this music is bound to mesmerize the listeners and will transport them to a sea of serenity. I am now listening to this CD as I write this review and I feel like I'm in the sea of serenity floating in calmness and intoxicated by its musical radiance. This is the kind of music my personal trainer in Pilates who started ballet dancing at age five put on complete with aromatherapy candles when I was privately training with her. And this is one of the CDs that I listen to at home when doing my own regular Pilates workout sans the Reformer machine, Pilates Ladder Barrel, Pilates chair and other Pilates equipments, of course.

Flutist János Bálint and harpist Nóra Mercz give incredibly charming and brilliant transcriptions to the music of some of the best classical composers and my favorites such as Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Mozart, Bizet, Durand, Strauss, Ravel, Gluck, Schuëcker and Rimsky-Korsakov. Both of them completed their studies at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and Mercz is a member of the teaching staff of the same school. She also established the Hungarian Harp Centre where the concentration is focus on the collection, performance and publication of works for harp written by Hungarian composers.

All the tracks are soothing, mellow, dreamy and softly sweet and you can listen to it endlessly! My top favorites include a piece of music that brings tears to my eyes each time I listen to it - Jules Massenet's "Meditation de Thais." It's also one of my late parents' all-time classical favorites. And also Bizet's "Intermezzo from the Opera Carmen," Chopin's "Variations on a Theme from the Opera La Cenerentola," which he wrote in 1824 at age 14. The tracks that reflect meditative serenity are the harp solos by Mercz - Auguste Durand's "Valse in E Flat Major, Op. 83" and "Chaconne in A Flat Minor."

This is the kind of classical music that projects what John Keats, one of my favorite poets once said and I quote: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases and it will never pass into nothingness." Yes, indeed, the more you listen to this music, the more you'll appreciate its eternal beauty. It's the kind of music to enjoy forever.

Wholeheartedly recommended not only for classical music lovers but also for "angels" as well. August 29, 2007

Pretty pieces, excellently performed, but not filling.

I bought this CD specifically for the Durand pieces, which do not disappoint. There is something about the overall choices that create a whole that is less than the sum of it's parts. Compared to other harp albums the entire program feels fluffy and unfilling. It could very well be that the pieces seem to be thrown together haphazardly, so that it does not feel like a program that is structured... just individual pieces, so that as a whole it feels forgettable. Of course, that is all a quibble with the CD presentation planning, not performance or production which are very fine.

As ballet is such a large component of the harp repertoire, this is a fine assortment of pieces that lean in that direction, which display a wide variety of sound and style - a fine calling card for the harpist. Aside from harp enthusiasts, a dancer would find the diversity here enjoiable - perhaps even preferable.

The pieces are excellently performed and taken individually, simply top notch. And the beautiful Durand pieces I have not heard elsewhere and are worth it alone. Definitely worth purchasing for those who like harp music as I do. April 26, 2007

Don't let the samples fool you.

What a shame there has been only one review for this album, based purely on the samples. It would seem only fair that a reviewer should listen to the actual CD before panning it. I am glad I ignored the advice and ordered this lovely recording. December 13, 2005

Scratching, popping, and hissing

If the samples are any indicator, these recordings should have been remastered before commercial release. Ouch! May 29, 2005

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