Nocturne, Music for Harp Alessia Luise

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op. 27 No. 2:
• 1 Beethoven: Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op. 27 No. 2: I. Adagio sostenuto 05:20
• 2 Beethoven: Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op. 27 No. 2: II. Allegretto 02:29
• 3 Beethoven: Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op. 27 No. 2: III. Presto agitato 10:55
• Carl Czerny (1791 - 1857): 2 kleine Fantasien, Op. 392:
• 4 Czerny: 2 kleine Fantasien, Op. 392: I. Der Abend 05:59
• 5 Czerny: 2 kleine Fantasien, Op. 392: II. Die Nacht 05:39
• John Field (1782 - 1837):
• 6 Field: Cinquième notturno in B-Flat, H. 37 03:01
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849):
• 7 Chopin: Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, B.49 03:58
• 8 Chopin: Nocturne No. 3, Op. 15 04:36
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897):
• 9 Brahms: Klaviersonate in F Minor, Op. 5: II. Andante 12:28
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918):
• 10 Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: III. Clair de lune 04:33
• 11 Debussy: Nocturne in D-Flat Major 06:56
• 12 Debussy: Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon in A-Flat Major 02:17
• Total Runtime 01:08:11

Info for Nocturne, Music for Harp

A meticulous, focused search for sound informs the selection of pieces on this recital, a voyage through 19th-century European music, in the vehicle of the nocturne, along the route of harp transcriptions. In these works, the composers capture night as a sliver of time, evoking the intimate and introspective side of the Romantic spirit. Night is also a metaphor for transformation, from darkness to light, for transcription from one musical instrument to another.

For this ‘reduction of a big thought to a practical instrument’, as Ferruccio Busoni put it in 1913, the harp was a popular choice, particularly in the late 19th century, when the instrument’s repertoire was augmented by a number of excellent transcriptions and reductions by renowned harp teachers and performers.

Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata provides the ideal starting point for a sonic journey through the light and dark of the Romantic spirit. Czerny’s short arabesques, Der Abend und die Nacht, continue the theme of twilight and night-time fantasy. Irishman John Field did not invent the nocturne, but he was responsible for the ‘crystallisation of an idiom’ that, a generation later, Chopin would take to new heights. The second movement of Brahms’s Piano Sonata No.3 evokes a nocturne, but on a larger scale. In the score is an epigraph with several verses by the poet C.O. Sternau hinting at a night-time embrace between two lovers. Debussy’s Clair de lune envelops the listener in a night freed from traditional formal structures, providing a brief escape from the 18th-century style of the preceding movements. His Nocturne in D flat, on the other hand, transports us back to Romanticism, its mysterious bass octaves and tender arpeggios leading to a melody of expansive, Chopinesque lyricism, which stands out above the changes in harmonic colour. With its pure, abstract sonority the concise Les Soirs illumineìs par l’ardeur du charbon presents night as verging on silence: the deafening quiet of a cold winter evening during World War One, when the anguish of the present is mixed with gratitude for a shipment of fuel, expressed in Debussy’s gift of the manuscript (rediscovered in 2001) to the coal merchant Monsieur Tronquin.

This beautifully conceived program brings together music inspired by the night, evoking the dark, mysterious atmosphere of a moonlit night, the mood alternating between bliss and anguish.

Featured are the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, two pieces by Carl Czerny (Der Abend und Die Nacht), Nocturnes by John Field and Frédéric Chopin, a Brahms Intermezzo from his 3rd Piano Sonata, and three pieces by Claude Debussy: the famous Clair de lune, Nocturne and Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon.

Excellent performance by Alessia Luise, solo harpist of several important Italian orchestras. She played with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, Giovanni Guglielmo and the Accademia Musicale San Giorgio, Mario Brunello and the Italian String Orchestra, Mario Ancillotti and “Suoni Riflessi Ensemble" and with Claudio Scimone's "I Solisti Veneti".

Alessia Luise, harp

Alessia Luise
was born and brought up in Veneto, she got an honors degree in harp and after graduating she left for France to further enhance her studies with Marie Claire Jamet and Fabrice Pierre. She took part in the Orchestral Training Course "Project Orchestra" with Maestro Umberto Benedetto Michelangeli, and she won a scholarship for a course held by Maestro Nicanor Zabaleta in Santiago de Compostela,Spain.

She started her orchestral career in Milan as first harp with the "Giuseppe Verdi" Orchestra, under the direction of Vladimir Delman, continuing with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Verona, "Toscanini" in Parma, the "Filarmonia Veneta G. F. Malipiero", the Theatre Orchestras "Coccia" in Novara, "Carlo Felice " in Genoa, Cagliari Opera Theatre and "I pomeriggi musicali" in Milan, Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome, Teatro Regio in Tourin, Teatro COmunale in Bologna and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. She also played with the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, the Orchestra of Teatro Massimo "Vincenzo Bellini" of Catania and since 1995 she is part of the Orchestra of the "Arena di Verona" Foundation.

She has played under the direction of the following Maestri: Bruno Bartoletti, Angelo Campori, Yoram David, Daniel Harding, Isaac Karabatchevsky,Myung-Whun Chung, Marko Letonja, Alain Lombard, Zubin Metha, John Neschiling, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Oren, Nello Santi.

With the desire of deepen her musical knowledge she studied composition and electronic music, graduating in 2008, a year later, after completing the second level of her Academic Diploma in "musical disciplines, specializing in interpretation and composition" in Venice.

She gained extensive and notable working experience while playing with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, G. Guglielmo and the Accademia Musicale S.George, Claudio Scimone's "I Solisti Veneti", Mario Brunello and the Italian String Orchestra, with whom recorded the CD "Odusia" music by G. Sollima and M.De Falla, and "Ovunque proteggi" by and with Vinicio Capossela. She also recorded with Albatros Ensemble's in the cd monograph "Nino Rota-Impromptu" by recording the Sonata for flute and harp.

She was part of the Mario Ancillotti's "Nuovo Contrappunto Ensemble" with whom, in addition to performing in the most important Italian Theatres and Concert halls, she recorded the Sonata for Amadeus C.Debussy (for flute, viola and harp) and "Introduction et Allegro" by M. Ravel.

She played in the most prestigious Concert Halls and Theatres such as the Verona Philharmonic Hall, the Sala dei Notari of Perugia, City of Monfalcone, Gorizia Auditorium, Philharmonic Hall in Rovereto, Politeama Rossetti in Trieste, La Fenice in Venice, Coccia in Novara, Regio di Parma , Goldoni of Livorno, Sala Verdi Teatro dal Verme in Milan, Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Theatre del Fuoco in Foggia, Toniolo in Mestre, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, performing a complete repertoire with a particular attention to the twentieth century and contemporary music.

Teaching is an important role for her musical experience. She has been Professor of harp at the Conservatory "A. Pedrollo" of Vicenza

This album contains no booklet.