Search - Rudiger Oppermann :: Fragile Balance

You're not supposed to play the Celtic harp like this. And in fact, Rüdiger Oppermann's custom-made electro-acoustic harp can barely be called a traditional instrument. He uses the effects of an electric guitarist and can bend the strings like a blues guitarist. On Fragile Balance, he weds this instrument to cross-cultural music that recalls the Paul Winter Consort with a distinctly older European cast. Pieces like the title track are gorgeous, almost quaint refrains shadowed by accordion, while "Riding a Horse with Five Legs" is a vigorous workout with a tabla groove charging the call-and-response interplay between Oppermann and a Mongolian violinist. Oppermann can be overwhelmed by his own chops. A piece like "Pretty Cool Harmonics" serves no purpose other than to showcase Oppermann's astounding technique, and that superficial quality pops up elsewhere as well. But just come back to the plaintive "Wide Horizon," or the prismatic abstractions of "In a Mirror," for some magic and innovative harp music. --John Diliberto