Various Composers - Mena (Marleen de Bakker)

Information

• Benjamin Britten - Suite for Harp, Op. 83
• Sergei Prokofiev - Prélude, Op. 12, No. 7
• George Frideric Handel - Tema con Variazoni
• Anne-Maartje Lemereis - Blauw
• Nino Rota - Sarabanda e Toccata
• Claude Debussy - Deux Arabesques, L. 66: No. 1 in E Major. Andantino con moto (transcr. Marleen de Bakker)
• Gabriel Fauré - Une châtelaine en sa tour…, Op. 110
• Henriette Renié - Contemplation
• Rieteke Hölscher - The Story of the Dragonfly

Marleen de Bakker, harp

Date: 2025

Label: 7 Mountain Records

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Marleen de Bakker releases a very personal portrait with her solo album Mena, featuring a widely chosen selection of music specifically for the harp. Marleen is called Mena by only her family and closest friends. The intimacy of this album is reflected by this pet name: the programme contains only compositions very close to Marleen’s own nature.

These include pieces she played from a very young age: including Händel’s Tema con Variazoni and famous works such as Benjamin Britten’s Suite for Harp opus 83 and Henriette Renié’s Contemplation. The album also includes new music written especially for her: the meditative Blue by Anne-Maartje Lemereis and the spectacular The Story of the Dragonfly by Rieteke Hölscher.

Mena is a colourful and sparkling album performed by a top young harpist. The practised listener will hear Marleen’s vast orchestral experience reflected in her references to other orchestral instruments, the harp lover-to-be will enjoy Marleen’s sonorous, smooth storytelling power on the instrument.