Composers: Higdon, Barber and Harlin
Performers: Yolanda Kondonassis harp, Rochester Philharmonic/Ward Stare
Catalogue Number: Azica Azica71327

Here is an American disc which covers rapture in three different forms. Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto reflects this all-American virtue, one generally associated with religion but here depicted as an experience of extreme human emotion. In fact Patrick Harlin’s Rapture places him firmly underground and in a cave with others where a state of rapture is firmly embraced. Barber’s short First Symphony from the 1930s, receiving as fine a performance as any on disc, takes its...