Solo Harp Concert: Dominique Piana presents The Romantic Spirit
On April 15th, at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Long Beach, CA, Dominique Piana presented "The Romantic Spirit" in a solo harp concert.
Harpist Dominique Piana lived in Southern California for 20 years and drove down from her present home in the San Francisco Bay area on a short concert tour.
Originally from Belgium, a country of crossroads, Dominique has put her "music detective" mind to work to unearth and revive the forgotten works of the repertoire, while also introducing transcriptions of pieces by famous composers. She loves to explore the filiation of musical ideas through the ages and to make the harp sing.
When she republished Alfred Kastner's Etude de Concert in honor of Stella Castellucci, his last student, she decided to learn it and has been taken aback by its powerful Mahlerian voice. She has assembled this recital program, The Romantic Spirit, in a way that tells the story of the harp, from one musical experiment to the next, in works by Krumpholtz, Donizetti, Parish Alvars, Thomas, Trnecek, Kastner, Zabel, Godefroid and her own composition "La Chrysalide".
At right: Dominique after her performance on April 15, 2011.
