Lavinia Meijer - 29709 Visions
Product Description
Mosquito Massacre by Paul Patterson
I am sometimes asked to name my favorite stylistic period. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as we’re talking about good compositions and I can give them my own personal interpretation. It’s true that even as a young performer I discovered that I had an affinity for modern music. I am particularly interested by the technical and interpretative possibilities. It gives the performer a sense of freedom. I also enjoy the challenge of making modern music, which is experienced by so many people as “difficult”, into something not only approachable but exciting. Personal contact with the composer is a priceless advantage here. I would never have been able perform the works which were written specially for me by Garret Byrnes, Carlos Michans, and Jacob TV (Jacob ter Veldhuis) with such conviction if the composers hadn’t been around.
Music for the harp has been composed in every imaginable style over the centuries, and in the process certain structures and “rules” have come into being which were largely obeyed by every self-respecting composer. But in the last century things changed; the limits were extended. A few composers, such as Carlos Salzedo, deliberately departed from the beaten path, even though it was sometimes a struggle before they could ultimately realise their personal visions. My experience has been similar. I have more or less demanded the right to experiment with new music in order to establish my own place on the concert platform.
“Visions” presents a varied picture of recent repertoire from the last forty years. The title, which derives from the work by Garrett Byrnes, seems to me to fit this CD and its experimental atmosphere. It is a deliberate contrast with “Divertissements” (Salzedo, Caplet, and Ibert), my first CD for Channel Classics. My interpretation of “Visions in Twilight” is intended as a homage to the Turkish harpist Fatma Ceren Necipoglu, who died so tragically, at the untimely age of 36, in the Air France crash of 1 June 2009. Fatma gave the world premiere of this piece, which was written for her. Only a few days before her death, she performed it again during the fourth Rio Harp Festival.
Lavinia Meijer
Music sample
Additional Information
| Artist | Lavinia Meijer Harp |
| Inlay | P. PATTERSON (1947) P. PATTERSON (1947) G. BYRNES (1971) I. YUN (1917-1995) T. TAKEMITSU (1930-1996) |
| Biography | Lavinia Meijer is recognized worldwide as one of the most succesful rising stars. Born in Korea in 1983 and adopted into a Dutch family, she now lives in The Netherlands. She studied harp under the guidance of Erika Waardenburg at the conservatories of Utrecht and Amsterdam, where she received her Bachelor and Masters degrees with the highest distinction. In october 2009 Lavinia Meijer was presented the "Nederlandse Muziekprijs" at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw by the Minister of Culture. This Dutch Music Prize, a state prize, is the highest award a classical musician can obtain in The Netherlands. Since a few years she has toured as a solo-harpist across Europe and America, visiting the main concert halls as Dutch representative in the series Rising Stars. In that context she gave solo recitals in Athens, Brussels, Cologne, Vienna, Paris, Birmingham, Stockholm, Luxemburg and Amsterdam. She also played at Carnegie Hall in New York and made her debut with the Korean Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center in januari 2009. In Holland she played as a soloist with the Radio Kamer Philharmonie (Hilversum), the Residentie Orkest of The Hague and the Concertgebouw Kamerorkest, consisting of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. From a young age on she has won major music prizes, such as first prizes at the Dutch Harp Competition and the International Harp Competition in Brussels, a second prize at the International Harp Competition in Vienna and third prizes both at the International Harp Competition in the USA and in Israel. Special awards have been given to her in The Netherlands and by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in Londen. Besides performing the standard harp repertoire Lavinia Meijer is very keen on playing modern music. She is also interested in experiments with electronic music, theatrical performances and jazz. She has inspired several composers to write new compositions for the harp in all possible combinations, not only the violin also a saxophone quartet and even a rock band. Composers as Garrett Byrnes, Carlos Michans, Jacob ter Veldhuis (JacobTV) and Hans Zender wrote new music for her. The first cd she made for the Dutch label Channel Classics, "Divertissements", got some raving reviews. Classics Today wrote about it: "If you have room in your collection for only a single solo harp recital, then let it be this disc", giving two 10s for both artistic and sound quality. |
| Awards | ClassicsToday 10/10 |
| Quotes | (...) excellente verrichtingen uitgekomen op cd, met grote resultaten. Behorend tot een van de beste producties van dit jaar. De harpiste blinkt uit in naoorlogswerken van oa Britten. (...) |
| Format | Normal PCM CD |
| Total Length | 63:08 |
| Year of release | 2009 |
| Number of cd's | 1 |
| Artist | Lavinia Meijer |
