French harpist shows great potential

EMMANUEL CEYSSON, harp, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Wednesday.

Emmanuel Ceysson is a young harpist who has much to offer his listeners. At least that was the case Wednesday evening when he made his Salt Lake debut in Libby Gardner Concert Hall in front of an appreciative audience that included a large number of local harpists.

Ceysson is somewhat of an anomaly in that he is a male playing an instrument that has largely become the domain of women. That wasn't always the case with the harp, though. Up until the latter half of the 20th century, the world of the harp was dominated by men, many of whom were also talented composers for the instrument.

The 22-year-old Frenchman played a wonderfully varied program Wednesday that favored French composers and showed him to be one of the rising stars of the new generation of harpists.

His performance, however, was not flawless. It was a bit rough around the edges and not always as polished and refined as one could have hoped for. That was perhaps due to the fact Ceysson flew into Salt Lake City from New York earlier that day. The wear and tear of traveling manifested itself in his playing.

Also, the harp Ceysson played was very resonant. It had a rich and full sound that was agreeable for the French pieces he played but not for the baroque works with which he opened his program.

Ceysson began with a transcription of J.S. Bach's French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814. While his playing wasn't crystalline and crisp, Ceysson nevertheless captured the finely woven contrapuntal lines. And his account of the six-movement suite was dynamic. Ceysson brought out the expressiveness of the music, particularly in the Sarabande, and he made a noticeable effort to bring eloquence to his playing.

Two sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (in C major, K. 200, and F minor, K. 466) followed. He gave a delightfully animated account of the former and a finely lyrical reading of the latter. But once again, Ceysson's playing lacked clarity and definition.

The rest of the program consisted of pieces by French composers, including the poetic Sonatine, op. 30, by harpist/composer Marcel Tournier, and, as an encore, a rhapsody by Marcel Grandjany, another composer who was also a celebrated harpist in his day.

Also on the program was Henriette Renie's virtuosic "Ballade Fantastique," based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart"; Gabriel Faure's lyrical "Une Chatelaine en sa tour," op. 110; and Albert Zabel's showpiece "Fantasy on Gounod's 'Faust."'

Among these works, Ceysson displayed his true artistry and his potential in the pieces by Tournier and Grandjany. It was obvious that he felt an affinity for the two works that came through in his interpretation. --> He played them with an intensity of expression and a sensitivity to nuances that wasn't completely there in the other pieces.

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com