It was the French mathematician Blaise Pascal who wrote, “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.” It’s oft-quoted as a reminder that brevity and finding the nut of a subject, requires a special skill. 

Italian harpist Francesca Romana Di Nicola lives and works in the Basque region of Spain. In 2020, she wrote a set of 27 short, evocative works. I would call her album Miniature a collection of short stories, each capturing a specific emotion, reflection, or memory. Each allows her to display a skill at encapsulating all that’s necessary in something so brief and transitory, we might miss it if not fully present. 

We’re immediately swept up into glorious playing, sometimes veiled and quiet, at other times exuberant and full of freedom. Added to the mix are poetic reflections by Juan Kruz Igerabide Sarasola that are equally alluring and thought-provoking. At the end of the album, you can hear them read the poems in Italian and Basque, music in and of itself.