"The harp and Christmas: this is a perfect fit, as the warm and elegant sound of the harp creates a very special atmosphere. I carefully...

"The harp and Christmas: this is a perfect fit, as the warm and elegant sound of the harp creates a very special atmosphere. I carefully selected various well-known Christmas tunes which are transcribed for solo harp, but I find it important to add lesser-known melodies as well – many of them reflecting different Christmas traditions." -Xavier de Maistre

"All the works that are included in Christmas Harp bear the hallmarks of harpists and composers who have been intimately familiar with their instrument. It was Xavier de Maistre himself who undertook the arrangement of the "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy" from the Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-93). The arrangement of "The Waltz of the Flowers" was prepared by the young Russian harpist and composer Alexander Boldachev, as was the transcription of "Carol of the Bells." The Welsh harpist and composer John Thomas (1826–1913) left a substantial body of work, including a transcription of the Ave Maria by Franz Schubert (1797–1828). The French harp virtuoso Alphonse Hasselmans (1845–1912) [wrote] the Conte de Noël that de Maistre is performing here. One of Hasselmans’s pupils was Carlos Salzedo (1885–1961), who studied with Hasselmans for a year before being accepted into his harp class at the Conservatoire at the age of only thirteen. His works feature in the lion’s share of the pieces that are included in this album. Particularly delightful are his concert variations on the opening carol O Tannenbaum, where he may be said to pull out all the stops in his desire to show how much music lies hidden in this number’s apparently simple twelve bars." -Thomas Otto