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You probably know the harp can sound angelic.  But did you know it can sound percussive and powerful?  That it can even be mistaken for a guitar, or a piano?  Those are some of the many sounds Yolanda Kondonassis pulls from her instrument. 

From the very beginning of her career, her musical vision has been propelled by the man who founded the harp department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Carlos Salzedo. 

Salzedo, who died in 1961, was a virtuoso harpist who was born on the border between Spain and France. He was also a prolific composer of harp music that expanded the repertoire and the image of the instrument -- music that Kondonassis has just recorded on her new CD.


When she was just 9 years old, Yolanda Kondonassis began to study with Alice Chalifoux, one of Salzedo's prize students. When Chalifoux retired 10 years ago, Kondonassis was chosen as her successor to head the harp departments at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. 

Kondonassis says her new recording, "Salzedo's Harp," is a tribute to him. 

"Performing this music has been really meaningful to me because it's been a chance to both honor this man -- who has had such an impact on my training, my philosophy, my way of playing the harp -- but also, to really do this music in the way that he intended it to be done," says Kondonassis. "I feel so lucky to have studied with someone who really knew every nook and cranny of this music, and was able to impart that to me, and hopefully the result is an album that's very, very accurate to his artistic wishes."

Yolando Kondonassis lives by the Salzedo philosophy, part of which involves the basic nuts and bolts of technique.  Another aspect relates to the mood of the instrument, which can range from pretty and delicate to fiery and assertive. 

Salzedo achieves these dramatic mood changes through the use of innovative effects that remain popular today.  The "pedal glissando" and the "timpanic effect" are both heard in the piece, "Chanson dans la Nuit."  These added elements make the harp sound dreamy, yet very percussive throughout this piece.

Kondonassis says everything Salzedo wrote promotes his philosophy. When she chose the pieces for this recording, she compiled them in a unique way. 

"The way I developed this album is that they represent his three compositional styles as I see them. The first is the traditional," says Kondonassis. "He was very interested in promoting the widespread appreciation of the harp. He wanted it to be accessible. The first piece on this album is his variations on a theme in ancient style, which is not only lovely and tuneful and catchy in a lot of ways, but it's also a wonderful tribute to his technical philosophy. Each variation presents different technical challenges for the harpist. It's a series of hoops for the harpist to jump through, and it's fun for an audience to watch."

The harp Yolando Kondonassis plays was designed in collaboration with Carlos Salzedo. 

"I just love the sound of it, the feel of it, the look of it," she explains. "The column is a really striking angular multileveled wooden structure that is graceful, elegant and really powerful at the same time. And it also has an extended soundboard, which has a big projecting sound." 

The flexibility of this instrument is demonstrated beautifully in the piece, 
Scintillation, which bridges the gap between Salzedo's traditional and contemporary styles. Here he uses a lot of glissando, but he takes it to a new level -- using it for rich bass harmonies and spicy rhythms.

On her new recording, Yolanda Kondonassis offers what she describes as her humble thanks and great admiration for a brilliant man who achieved his vision for an instrument often seen as an underdog.  

Kondonassis absorbed Salzedo's passion for the harp, and for new works. Her latest goal is to commission new music for her instrument. 

"That's the next frontier for me." she says. "I think harpists who are out there performing need to be involved in inspiring the great composers of our day to write for their instruments. That's a lost opportunity if we're not doing that."

"My next big project is a commission with the composer Bright Sheng," she adds. "I have a consortium of orchestras that are commissioning and sponsoring this harp concerto, and that'll be premiered in the fall of '08."  

That premiere performance will be the next new recording for Yolanda Kondonassis.

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Julie Amacher

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Carlos Salzedo worked tirelessly to expand the expressive range of his instrument, the harp. On her new disc, one of today's leading harpists explores three facets of Salzedo's compositions.

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