At the end of the 18th century, France and Germany developed a passion for harp music; the instrument was everywhere, in concerts and drawing rooms and many masterpieces were written for it. Queen Marie-Antoinette regularly played the pianoforte and the harp and the instrument has remained a symbol of the last two decades of the French court.
The harpist Xavier de Maistre has been leading a brilliant career for 25 years: at 22, he became solo harp at the Vienna Philharmonic and this prestigious position has opened doors on an international career. Passionate about his still little-known instrument and its extraordinary repertoire, he has chosen with William Christie the most evocative works of this golden age of the harp. They are inseparable from the image of the Queen of France, the elegance of her playing on an instrument which reached under Louis XVI unequaled refinement in workmanship,
Xavier de Maistre appears courtesy of Sony Classical.

萨米耶·狄·梅斯特（Xavier de Miastre）是十九世纪初法国文坛的一位传奇人物，他的小说「在自己房间里旅行」（Voyage autour de ma chambre），以自传体描写将自己囚禁在房间六周里的种种经过，非常的有趣。而维也纳爱乐首席竖琴家萨米耶．狄．梅斯特则和他同名同姓。这位一九九八年第四届美国国际竖琴大赛金牌得主，在大学同时主修经济、政治和竖琴演奏，一毕业就拿下国际赛金牌奖、并获得维也纳爱乐首席竖琴家的职位，演奏事业一帆风顺。
这份录音中，其实只有最后的舞曲是真正为竖琴所写的德彪西作品，德彪西对竖琴有相当高的评价，认为竖琴身上不像其它乐器，会受到演奏者那么深的介入，而影响到作曲家在作品中的意念。因此他也相当鼓励同时代的竖琴家改编他自己的钢琴音乐供竖琴演奏，而在他生前也有许多他的作品被改编成竖琴而受到欢迎。像本片中由法国竖琴家蕾妮叶所改编的两首华丽曲就是。蕾妮叶也是促成德布西写作片中唯一一套竖琴作品「舞曲」的关键人。德布西很多钢琴作品都偏好使用分解和弦的琶音，这正是竖琴所擅长的，像是他的月光和两首华丽曲就是最佳的例子，本片中除了两首华丽曲以外，其余的曲子都是由竖琴家梅斯特自己进行的改编，包括七首与女高音合作的德布西法语歌曲，也将钢琴伴奏部改编成竖琴演奏。这份录音，是梅斯特加盟新力第一张专辑，这位维也纳爱乐的竖琴首席，日后将会为我们带来更多的竖琴名曲。