Composers: Ginastera
Compositions: Harp Concerto, Variaciones Concertantes
Performers: Sidsel Walstad h, Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Catalogue Number: LAWO LWC1182

The harp concerto by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) is probably the most popular and challenging of all 20th-century concertos. Regularly programmed (particularly in competitions) and regularly recorded, the concerto is a tough one to master. Like his teacher Aaron Copland, Ginastera investigated traditional folk tunes and rhythms before adapting them into a more personal style, which is often highly rhythmic, absorbing in particular elements of the malambo, a gaucho dance involving much heel-stomping. This rhythm features in both the concerto...