Sivan Magen - French Reflections - The Sunday Times

Harp recitals are almost bound to be appealing, such is the instrument's seductiveness, but this one has substance, too. Alongside the pure enchantment of André Caplet's Divertissements and Marcel Tournier's Sonatine comes the modern-mindedness of Bruno Mantovani's strenuous Tocar and Philippe Schoeller's meditative Esstal. Two of Debussy's piano Estampes make an easy transition, and the set is framed by splendid Fauré pieces: the Verlaine-inspired Une Châtelaine en sa tour, Op 110, and the Impromptu, Op 86. In both, one may feel the poetic "mysteriousness" of the instrument is inseparable from sheer meatiness of technique.