Ghislaine Petit-Volta pays tribute to her French heritage in “Hommage à Rameau
French harpist Ghislaine Petit-Volta has released Hommage à Rameau, a collection of “varied viewpoints on Jean Philippe Rameau” according to the disc’s liner notes. In addition to Petit-Volta’s transcriptions of the nine movements by Rameau in his first book of Pieces de Clavacin (published in 1706), the recording also includes French harp staples by Camille Saint-Saëns (Fantasie for violin and harp) and Debussy (Sonata for flute, viola, and harp).
Where’s the connection, you may be asking? Saint-Saëns was the first to edit Rameau’s clavicin compilations in 1895, and Debussy was a supporter of reviving Rameau’s music, “So it is a collection of different homages to Rameau, as well as my own,” explains Petit-Volta on Camac’s harpblog. The CD cover artwork by Henri Jamet illustrates the artist colony “La Gargilesse,” where his son Pierre Jamet (Petit-Volta’s teacher) founded the L’Academie Internationale de Harp à Gargilesse.
Camac is a sponsor of the CD and it can be purchased on their website, where you can also read more about Ghislaine Petit-Volta.
