A native of England, Elias Parish Alvars became established as a fully-fledged European artist. He travelled extensively, working alongside Carl Czerny and gained the esteem of Mendelssohn and Berlioz, who declared that ‘this man is a magician’, with a ‘passionate impulse to express the music of another world’. Composed in a Romantic style, Parish Alvars’ fantasias and refined elaborations on themes by Bellini explore every aspect of the harp’s technical and expressive qualities, from spectacular virtuosity to evocative and transparent effects that were revolutionary in their time. These works are performed here by Paola Perrucci, who currently teaches at the Conservatory of Bologna.