Virtuoso harpist Emmanuel Ceysson served as principal harp with the Opéra national de Paris for fifteen years and the Metropolitan Opera of New York for five years. He has been principal harpist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel since 2020.
On this album, he pays tribute to Marcel Tournier (1879-1951), one of the greatest harpist-composers in the history of the instrument. The majority of Tournier’s works are for solo harp or voice and harp, but he later added other instruments to certain pieces and transformed them into chamber works. The works recorded here date from his mature years and show the influence of Debussy, Satie, and Ravel. Included are several previously unpublished versions of some of Tournier’s works, the manuscripts of which have only recently come to light, performed passionately by Ceysson with soprano Véronique Gens and Quatuor Voce.