The flautist Sharon Bezaly has, over the past 20 years, released some 40 albums on BIS, recordings which have contributed to the international recognition that she enjoys. Both on recordings and in concert she has done much to champion new repertoire – she has had no less than 20 concertos dedicated to her. On her new release, however, she turns to core repertoire, although not necessarily that of her own instrument. The two sonatas by Cesar Franck and Gabriel Faure were composed with the violin in mind, and even though Prokofiev's sonata was originally intended for the flute it is often heard in the composer's own version for violin and piano. But joined by the legendary pianist and conductor Vladimir Askenazy, Sharon Bezaly now claims (and reclaims) the three works for her own instrument, in eloquent performances that make the best possible case for the flute.
During long periods the flute has been almost synonymous with France, the country from which the music, the great players and the finest instruments all came. The French flute - whether dreamy as in Debussy's Syrinx or sprightly as in Poulenc's Sonata - is simply unmistakeably French, in all its delights. On her new release, renowned flutist Sharon Bezaly - who herself studied in Paris - celebrates this tradition, with a programme consisting of works composed between 1889 and 1946. French Delights is something of a companion piece to a previous Bezaly disc: Café au Lait, a predominantly French flute recital accompanied by Roland Pöntinen. Upon its release that disc, and the artistry of Sharon Bezaly, were highly acclaimed, for instance in French magazine Diapason: 'The flute turns into the voice of enchantment, a lullaby of the senses or an invitation to dreamfulness, into planing light or the glitter of light on water - an instrument almost too beautiful.' Here again, with the support of eminent pianist Love Derwinger, Sharon Bezaly displays her prodigious talent.
Masterworks for Flute and Piano / Bezaly, Brautigam
BIS
SACD
$21.99Jan 01, 2006
Recently released recordings of Mozart's concertos, of three contemporary works for flute and orchestra and of a programme for solo flute have earned Sharon Bezaly epithets such as 'God's gift to the flute', 'an amazingly talented performer' and 'a First Lady among equals'. Here she has turned to some of the central works for flute and piano, and with Ronald Brautigam, familiar from many BIS releases, gives her interpretations of three master-pieces of the 1940s flanking Schubert's great Trockne Blumen variations, composed some 120 years earlier. Though written in the span of two years, Prokofiev's Sonata, Dutilleux's Sonatine and Jolivet's Chant de Linos each show the flute in a different light. Prokofiev was preoccupied with clarity of style and found the instrument a perfect vehicle: 'The sonata should be played with a bright, transparent, classical tone', he wrote. (David Oistrakh later convinced the composer to create a violin version, which quickly became very popular.) A distinctly different approach was taken by Jolivet, who wrote his Chant inspired by the ancient Greek concept of 'linos', a ritual lament punctuated by cries and dancing. It is thus based on musical material associated with Greek modes and explores the extremes of expression. Dutilleux, finally, composed his Sonatine as a set piece for the flute competitions of the Paris Conservatoire. But these academic-sounding origins are belied by the by turns atmospheric and spirited writing, so typical of the multi-faceted Dutilleux. Sharon Bezaly and Ronald Brautigam have previously collaborated on BIS-CD-1439, with violist Nobuko Imai. Upon its release this disc received a number of distinctions and highly favourable reviews, not least because of the superb ensemble playing.
Ge Gan-Ru: Fairy Lady Meng Jiang - Lovers Besieged
BIS
CD
$21.99Jan 28, 2014
• Chinese composer Ge Gan-ru, whilst studying music at the Shanghai Conservatory, earned the designation of “China's first avant-garde composer”.
• Flautist Sharon Bezaly, heard here, is the Concerto for Flute's dedicatee.
• Enrique Diemecke leads the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.
Christopher Rouse: Flute Concerto, Symphony, Rapture, Etc / Bezaly, Royal Stockholm Po
BIS
CD
$21.99Sep 01, 2009
All of this music has been recorded before, but not so frequently as to make new versions redundant. BIS has released the Flute Concerto separately in a disc sensibly devoted to modern flute concertos. It's a very major work, more immediately appealing and just as emotionally gripping as the grittier Second Symphony. Christopher Rouse, for all of his roots in, and occasional glances toward, American pop music, is a very serious, sometimes genuinely anguished composer, even in a supposedly more "relaxed" piece such as Rapture. His direct emotionalism and intensity seldom let up, a fact that really good performances such as these never allow us to forget. As in the first volume in this series, Alan Gilbert and his Stockholm Orchestra sound quite comfortable in what must have been very unfamiliar musical territory, and Sharon Bezaly in the concerto is unbeatable. With excellent sonics, this second volume in BIS's very worthy ongoing series is just as recommendable as the first.
Xiaogang Ye: Winter / Royal Scottish National Orchestra
BIS
CD
$21.99Jul 02, 2021
‘As intriguing as it is beguiling’ was how the ‘east-meets-west soundworld’ of Xiaogang Ye was described in the BBC Music Magazine on the release of a previous disc of his orchestral works in 2016. On that occasion Ye’s music was championed by José Serebrier, who returns here, sharing the task with Gilbert Varga. Between them they conduct the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and four international soloists in five works which highlight the beginning of Ye’s career as well as his more recent works. The Brilliance of Western Liang was written in 1983, during Ye’s time as a student at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and is named after a fifth-century kingdom in northwest China. Five years later, Ye wrote his Op. 28, Winter for orchestra, shortly after the he had gone to stay in the U.S.A. A wintry theme returns in December Chrysanthemum (2006), composed in memory of Ye’s daughter Nini, who passed away as an infant. Two years later, Ye was given the prestigious task of writing a work for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics. His Starry Sky for piano, chorus and orchestra, was performed for a worldwide audience with Lang Lang at the piano. The most recent work on the disc is The Song of Sorrow and Gratification (2012), a cycle of four orchestral songs dedicated to the bass-baritone Shenyang who also performs them here. The work sets texts by Li Shutong (1880–1942), assembled from early poems reflecting the resentment, melancholy and helplessness experienced by a young man during a period of turmoil in the history of China.
Flutist Sharon Bezaly has dazzled listeners and critics all over the globe, even being called “God’s gift to the flute.” With almost 40 releases to her name, her wide-ranging discography includes both standard repertoire and selections written specifically for her. This release is owed to two fellow world-class flutists, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Gunilla von Bahr. Rampal was the flutist who arranged Aram Khachaturian’s virtuosic violin concerto for the flute, at the suggestion of the composer. “Dances with the Winds,” Einojuhani Rautavaara’s 1974 composition, is dedicated to Gunilla von Bahr. Rautavaara’s “Dances with the Winds,” is an interesting addition, as the first and last movements are scored for bass flute, while the second movement is written for piccolo, and the third for alto flute. In a later revision, the composer replaced the bass flute with the alto. Bezaly includes both versions on this recording.
Bridge Across The Pyrenees - Ibert, Rodrigo, Etc / Bezaly
BIS
SACD
$21.99Oct 01, 2006
Separated by the Pyrenees, the musical milieus of Spain and France have sometimes been like oil and water - or maybe like oil and wine. It took Bizet's opera Carmen to open the ears of the French to the Spanish rhythms and inflections which were to become so important to so many later composers, from Debussy to Ibert. On the present disc, Carmen - in the guise of Borne's Fantaisie brillante - plays a similar role, creating a bridge between Rodrigo's Concierto pastoral and Ibert's Flute Concerto, two of last century's main concertante works for the flute. Soloist Sharon Bezaly will hardly need a closer presentation after her highly praised recordings of the past couple of years. Her recital with pianist Ronald Brautigam (BIS-SACD-1429) and her recording of Mozart's concertos (BIS-SACD-153901), to mention only two, have garnered such high praise and so many distinctions that it would be impossible to list them - suffice it to say that the reviewers have called her 'a sorceress of timbres', 'God's gift to the flute', 'a First Lady among equals' and a 'graceful Mozartean, with limpid tone, an impish sense of humour, and sometimes staggering breath control.' The present recording was made with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra and conductor John Neschling, whose performances of the music of Brazilian composers Guarnieri, Mignone, Braga and Santoro have been praised for their vitality, rhythmic vigour and wide range of colours - all qualities that should be just the thing for building a bridge across the Pyrenees.
