Davidsharfen Mara Galassi and Flora Papadopoulos

• Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687 - 1750): Partita in D Major:
• 1 Weiss: Partita in D Major: I. Spiritoso 02:37
• 2 Weiss: Partita in D Major: II. Allegro assai 06:17
• 3 Weiss: Partita in D Major: III. Un poco andante 04:18
• 4 Weiss: Partita in D Major: IV. Allegro 02:58
• Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer:
• 5 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: XIV. Entree 01:03
• 6 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: XVI. Neuet 01:01
• 7 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: XXI. Menuet 01:18
• 8 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: XXII. Aria 00:57
• 9 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: I. Aria 01:43
• 10 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: V. Bourree 00:42
• Caietano Schega: Fundamentum speciat:
• 11 Schega: Fundamentum speciat: Preludio 01:36
• Anonymous: Sonata I:
• 12 Anonymous: Sonata I: I. Adagio 02:35
• 13 Anonymous: Sonata I: II. Allegro 01:24
• 14 Anonymous: Sonata I: III. Pastzorel 01:59
• Musicalische Ruestkammer:
• 15 Anonymous: Musicalische Ruestkammer: VIII. Aria, Bouree 04:52
• Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1656 - 1746): Clio Suite:
• 16 Fischer: Clio Suite: Praeludium harpeggiato 00:47
• Silvius Leopold Weiss: Concerto Dal Weiss S.:
• 17 Weiss: Concerto Dal Weiss S.: I. Adagio - Allegro 04:40
• 18 Weiss: Concerto Dal Weiss S.: II. Adagio 02:17
• 19 Weiss: Concerto Dal Weiss S.: III. Gigue 02:18
• Preludio in F major:
• 20 Weiss: Preludio in F major 02:03
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto Bwv 971:
• 21 Bach: Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto Bwv 971 04:53
• 22 Bach: Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto Bwv 971: II. Adagio 05:14
• 23 Bach: Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto Bwv 971: III. Presto 04:58
• Total Runtime 01:02:30

Info for Davidsharfen

The David harp is a type of harp from the German Baroque period.

The figure of King David is usually depicted on the head of the harp column.

The strings are fitted with brays, which gives this instrument a typical buzzing sound.

In addition to the David harp, however, a number of other types of harp were used in baroque Germany, such as the single-row hooked harp, on which the pitch could be altered with hooks on the strings, or double-row chromatic harps.

Mara Galassi and her colleague Flora Papadopoulos present a hitherto unknown German repertoire with their harp duets, which they interpret on five different harp types of this period.

The works come from various German collections, such as the Dresden "Musikalische Rustkammer", the collection of the Silesian Dominican monk Father Pius Hancke, but also works by Silvius Leopold Weiss, whose lute duets were transcribed for two harps.

The album ends with a transcription of Bach's famous "Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto", which the two harpists arranged for themselves in the style of the above-mentioned harp manuscripts and lute duets.

Mara Galassi, harp
Flora Papadopoulos, harp

Mara Galassi
studied pedal harp with Luciana Chierici in Milano, David Watkins in London, and Emmy Huerlimann in Zuerich, performance practice with the harpsichordist David Collyer and the lutenist Patrick O’Brien and musicology with Michael Morrow in London.

She served as principal harpist for the Opera House in Genova, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and from 1979 to 1989 for the Teatro Massimo Opera House in Palermo, Italy. She develops her activities as soloist and as a member of the most famous early music Ensembles in Europe:Concerto Vocale (René Jacobs), Concerto Italiano (Rinaldo Alessandrini), Mala Punica (Pedro Memeldorff), Concerto Soave (Maria Cristina Kiher, Jean Marc Aymes), Concerto Koeln, Akademie fuer Alte Muik, Freiburger Barockorchester, etc.

As musicologist she has done extensive research in the field of historical harps. She recorded for Tactus, Symphonia, Ricordi, Harmonia Mundi, Opus 111, Glossa and Arcana, Zig Zag. For Glossa Music : Il viaggio di Lucrezia (Choc de la Musique/Cannes Award), Les harpes du Ciel, A Microcosm Concerto.

In Duo with the dancer, actress and regisseur Deda Cristina Colonna she participated in the film “Voluptas dolendi- I gesti del Caravaggio” produced by the Marco Fodella Foundation.

She has recently founded the “Ensemble de harpes Sebastièn Erard”, devoted to romantic music for harp ensemble on original instruments.

She teaches historical harps and chamber music in Milano at the Civica Scuola di Musica and at the ESMUC in Barcelona and has given performance practice masterclasses in Lausanne Conservatory of Music, Lyon Conservatory of Music, Moscow Conservatory of Music etc.

Flora Papadopoulos
Born in Greece, Flora Papadopoulos has lived in Italy for many years, currently in Milan.

She graduated in modern harp at the Conservatory of Parma with Emanuela Degli Esposti. Later, thanks to a scholarship from the Fondazione Marco Fodella, she studied the baroque harp at the Scuola Civica di Milano and under the guidance of Mara Galassi, graduating with top marks.

She graduated with honours in Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Parma and obtained a Master's degree in Musicology at the Sorbonne IV University in Paris.

Her concert activity includes both solo and chamber music and orchestral projects.

He collaborates with European orchestras and ensembles specialising in the interpretation of early music, and has worked among others with maestros such as R. Alessandrini (Concerto Italiano), J. Ch. Spinosi (Ensemble Matheus), L. Garcia Alarcòn (Cappella Mediterranea), D. Fasolis (I Barocchisti), F. Cera (Ensemble Arte musica), F. Guglielmo (l'Arte dell'arco), Ch. Pluhar (L'Arpeggiata), A. De Marchi, Th. Hengelbrock, M. Mencoboni, C. Ipata (Auser Musici), A. Van der Spoel (Musica Temprana), A. Küppers (Il Teatro del Mondo), A. Urbano (l'Armonia degli Affetti), and many others.

He has performed in some of the world's most prestigious halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, L'Opèra Garnier in Paris (Coronation of Poppea, with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano and directed by Bob Wilson), Opéra de Versailles, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Theatre an der Wien in Vienna, Wien Konzerthaus, Megaron in Athens, Beijing Center of the Performing Arts, and many others. He has participated in recordings for Brilliant Classics, Harmonia Mundi, MDG, Glossa, Ricercar.

With Lathika Vithanage and Noelia Reverte Reche he founded the ensemble specialising in Italian and English seventeenth-century repertoire, with which she recorded a disc around the Harp Consorts of William Lawes (Brilliant Classics 2016).

He is a member of the ensemble founded and directed by Franco Pavan and with Pino de Vittorio, committed to rediscovering the ancient musical tradition of written and oral tradition of southern Italy. With them he recorded the album 'Occhi Turchini, songs of an island' for Glossa.

Recently released for Arcana is his first solo harp disc Unwritten: Bach, Biber, Corelli, Marini, from violin to harp.

She teaches the Renaissance and Baroque Harp course at the Conservatory of Music in Latina

Booklet for Davidsharfen