Review and More

Our Review

Sunita Staneslow is an outstanding harpist, and she has produced two fine holiday albums--Christmas Day and her earlier offering Christmas Eve. This more recent recording differs in at least two respects. First, although Christmas Eve emphasized music from Northern Europe, this album focuses on Celtic tunes from Ireland and Scotland. Second, her earlier release was all solo harp; in contrast, Christmas Day also features five duets with violinist Tracy Silverman (tracks 1,4,6,8,12). Both albums are excellent for setting the stage for a holiday party or perhaps a quiet evening with family.

Although Staneslow does a fantastic job of filling each bar of music with the most remarkable, flowing harp, the addition of Silverman's violin is a nice counterpoint, often adding an exclamation point to an already beautiful piece; I found myself listening a bit more attentively for the violin accents to appear.

Staneslow plays a magnificent, hand-crafted folk harp here (it is pictured on the album's back; appropriately enough for the holidays, the harp's maker was Jack Yule). The 13 tracks cover the expected and the unexpected; I was unfamiliar with perhaps four numbers. Not surprisingly, Staneslow displays her usual masterful level of musicianship, and everything fits together very nicely on Christmas Day. My favorite cuts include the soulful harp/violin duets in "The Virgin's Lullaby" and "Christ Child Lullaby," as well as the delicately woven "Cherry Tree Carol."

There are no wrong notes on Christmas Day! If you need a ticket to a very calm and intensely lovely location, grab this album and go!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

More

From the liner notes:

Sunita Staneslow: Celtic harp
Tracy Silverman: violin
Executive Producer: Frederick Schlomka
Producer: Sunita Staneslow
Engineer: Matthew Zimmerman

All harp arrangements by Sunita staneslow
All violin arrangements by Tracy Silverman

Sunita has played the folk harp for over twenty harp for over twenty years and is known for her stunning performances of Celtic music from Ireland and Scotland. On this recording she plays her traditional Scottish clarsach (folk harp). It was made by Jack Yule in the village of Penicuik near her husband's home town of Edinburgh, Scotland. Sunita has performed at the Edinburgh Harp Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe, and the Milwaukee Irish Fest. With numerous recordings and music books to her credit, she has carved out a niche in the living tradition.

Sunita is the founder of the band, Northern Gael, and performs as a soloist and with leading Celtic musicians in Europe, Israel and the United States.

From the Web site:

Christmas Day captures the spirit of the season with traditional music of the Celtic lands. From the rocky shores of Scotland's far northwest to the exotic Isle of Mann in the Irish Sea, these lilting tunes will add an elegant musical backdrop to any Christmas event. Sunita's solo harp interpretations of these timeless melodies are enhanced on several tracks with the gentle violin improvisations of Windham Hill recording artist Tracy Silverman.

Sunita's music flows from her heart to her harp, expressing herself to her audience with passion and grace. Whether at an intimate reception or main stage performance, Sunita interprets and communicates the depth of her feeling for traditional music. Classically trained and an master of her instrument, she has immersed herself in the worlds of Jewish and Celtic music, performing and recording with some of the great musicians of Europe, Israel, and the United States. Her recordings are popular around the world, and her books of music for harp have become standards with both students and professional harpists.

Sunita performs for special events, clubs, colleges, concert venues and festivals. Her programs specialize in Celtic or Jewish music, and sometimes a combination of the two.

Sunita Staneslow

Christmas Day

Artist link

Track List