Aparte Music presents this CD of the greatest harp sound of Naoko Yohino and Orchestre d’Auvergne with Robertoo Forés Veses, principal conductor and artistic director of the orchestra since 2012. Naoko Yoshino is a harpist on a great international level, acclaimed for her beautiful sound. She played with numerous orchestras and performed at prestigious music festivals, she is also an advocate of new repertoire for the harp. 

This CD is a result of her continuing collaboration with the conductor Roberto Forés Veses and the Orchestre d’Auvergne. After meeting Roberto Forés Veses, Naoko said that she found her “musical soul-mate” and this recording shows that their collaboration matured into a perfect union of great sound and musicality.

Starting with Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for harp and orchestra, completed in 1939, which is full of Spanish folk rhythms and splendid colours. Quite nostalgic and warm piece, finishes with a very energetic last movement. Continuing with the Italian-American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who wrote Concertino for harp and chamber orchestra in 1937, right before emigrating to US. Again, this piece had a strong Spanish influence that we can clearly hear in the Andalusian rhythms and harmony. Castelnuovo-Tedesco was influenced by guitarist Andrés Segovia which is why especially in the third movement the harp sound is very close to the guitar’s timbre.

Then, we can lose ourselves in a beautiful melodies of Danse sacrée and Danse profane where Claude Debussy got the chance to work with his favorite instrument, the harp. This piece was composed in 1904 as a competition work for a new chromatic harp (that has one string per semitone). The CD concludes with Tema y variaciones for harp and orchestra, by Spanish composer Joaquín Turina, where again we can admire the Andalusian harmony, and also certain jazz sonorities with an impressive conclusion of the last movement, that concludes this one hour of the beautiful harp sound, brought to life by Naoko Yoshino.

Adela Pudlakova