Description
Parish Alvars 12 Favorite Airs arranged for harp
Elias Parish Alvars, a student of Bochsa became the first harpist to explore the whole range and sweep of the new double-action pedal harp. Associated with Mendelssohn and Liszt, he was considered a magician of the harp by no less than Berlioz.
His 12 Favorite Airs are just that, a disparate collection of favorite tunes, somewhat in gradual order of difficulty, several well-known by opera aficionados, for ex. the famous aria from La Molinara by Paisiello. Some themes appear here that he further developed in his operatic fantasies, such as the Norma by Bellini. They were composed with his Viennese students in mind, and provide a great introduction to and an irresistible sampler of Italian opera. Simply said, they are the easiest Parish Alvars music in print, yet with Parish Alvars we know that any concept of facility is a euphemism, but he tried!
