Mena Marleen de Bakker

• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Suite for Harp, Op. 83:
• 1 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: I. Ouverture 03:24
• 2 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: II. Toccata 01:33
• 3 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: III. Nocturne 03:10
• 4 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: IV. Fugue 01:19
• 5 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: V. Hymn 05:56
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Prélude, Op. 12, No. 7:
• 6 Prokofiev: Prélude, Op. 12, No. 7 02:40
• Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759): Tema con Variazoni:
• 7 Händel: Tema con Variazoni 08:05
• Anne-Maartje Lemereis (b. 1989): Blauw:
• 8 Lemereis: Blauw 06:09
• Nino Rota (1911 - 1979): Sarabanda e Toccata:
• 9 Rota: Sarabanda e Toccata: I. Sarabanda 04:54
• 10 Rota: Sarabanda e Toccata: II. Toccata 02:42
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Deux Arabesques, L. 66:
• 11 Debussy: Deux Arabesques, L. 66: No. 1 in E Major. Andantino con moto (Transcr. for Harp by Marleen de Bakker) 04:28
• Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924): Une châtelaine en sa tour…, Op. 110:
• 12 Fauré: Une châtelaine en sa tour…, Op. 110 04:57
• Henriette Renié (1875 - 1956): Contemplation:
• 13 Renié: Contemplation 04:46
• Rieteke Hölscher (b. 1969): The Story of the Dragonfly:
• 14 Hölscher: The Story of the Dragonfly: Mud, Bubbles & Flow 04:40
• 15 Hölscher: The Story of the Dragonfly: Spark, Rock, Rustle & Fly 04:32
• Total Runtime 01:03:15

Info for Mena

Marleen de Bakker presents a deeply personal portrait with her solo album Mena, with a carefully crafted programme especially for the harp. The name Mena is a pet name used only by her family and closest friends, which emphasises the intimate atmosphere of this album.

The album includes works dear to her since childhood, such as Handel's Tema con Variazioni, Britten's famous Suite for Harp opus 83 and Renié's hushed Contemplation. In addition, the album contains new works composed especially for her, including Anne-Maartje Lemereis' meditative Blue and Rieteke Hölscher's impressive The Story of the Dragonfly.

Marleen de Bakker, harp

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 96 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 192 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Marleen de Bakker
The Dutch Harpist, Marleen de Bakker, started harp lessons at the age of eight at the Hilversum music school. Her talent for the harp was discovered early on and from the age of fourteen she was taking lessons from the famous Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer. Marleen studied harp at the Utrecht Conservatory, where she was taught by the renowned harpist Erika Waardenburg. She finished her master’s degree with a 9,5.

Marleen took orchestra lessons from Petra van der Heide, Saskia Rekke and Sandrine Chatron. Furthermore she participated in masterclasses from a.o. Gwyneth Wentink, Miriam Overlach, Sivan Magen, Elinor Bennet, Andrew Lawrence-King, Marieke Schneemann, Daniel Bard, Edward Witsenburg, Imogen Barford, Charlotte Seal, Vincent Cortvrint and Mikhail Zemtsov.

Marleen has won several prizes at numerous competitions and regularly performs solo, either with an orchestra or at solo recitals. In October 2016 she won the 17th annual audition training of the Amsterdam conservatory, organized by Sandrine Chatron.

Alongside her solo career Marleen often substitutes in several (professional) orchestras and is co-founder of Ensemble Pamoja; a young, thriving and much sought after ensemble, consisting of Annemieke Hereijgers on flute and Marleen on harp. Apart from playing as a duo, they often perform as a trio with Elisa Karen Tavenier on viola or Maya Fridman on cello.

Marleen has a passion for modern music and encourages composers to write new music for her or for her ensemble.

Apart from her work as a performing artist, Marleen loves to teach and has her own harp studio in Hilversum.

Marleen performs on a Lyon & Healy harp, which was bought partially through a loan from the Dutch national music instruments foundation (Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds).

This album contains no booklet.