Description
Incomparable virtuoso, called the Paganini of the harp, Felix Godefroid was also a composer and a teacher. This recording, performed by Sophie Hallynck, highlights the composer's studies in high virtuosity. Designed for his own use and that of professionals, partake of both "absolute music" - as with the deservedly famous Etude in B Flat Minor, op. 193 - and the character piece, picturesque or sentimental. These musical miniatures are pieces overflowing with musicality, in a refined style, but they express a pedagogical programme first and foremost. Godefroid conceived of his etudes as a true school for harpists. Each technical problem becomes the medium for a musical expression - an approach that gives these etudes exceptional richness and relevance. Often based on one of those melodies for which Godefroid had such a knack, each one is set apart by a strongly marked expressive character, ranging from laughter to tears, as well as by its structure, rhythm, novel sonorities, and harmonic surprises not lacking in audacity. Sophie Hallynck has risen to the technical challenges specific to each etude while staying faithful to the spirit of the era, with the aspiration to achieve a subtle balance between virtuosity and expression. Her essential objective has always been to make technique live through music, without ever obscuring that emotion that emanates from it.
