Treasures from the New World, Vol. 3 / Zanon, Barboza, Iruzun
SOMM Recordings
CD
$20.99Jun 30, 2023
SOMM RECORDINGS announces the eagerly anticipated Volume 3 of Treasures from the New World throwing revealing new light on music from the Americas. Pianist Clélia Iruzun returns, accompanied by feted guitarist and Royal Academy of Music Professor Fabio Zanon (who provides informative booklet notes) and celebrated flautist Marcelo Barboza, both making their label debuts. Works by six Brazilian composers for permutations of guitar, flute and piano are featured, three of which – by Marlos Nobre, Ronaldo Miranda and João Luiz – are First Recordings. Also included is American composer Jennifer Higdon, whose questing flute and piano duet, Legacy, is a rhetorical meditation on suffering and loss.
Composed for Iruzun in 2011, Nobre’s Desafio No.37 pits guitar and piano against each other echoing Brazil’s jousting troubadour tradition; Miranda’s single-movement Alumbramentos for flute and piano fuses the traditional and the new; Luiz’s Três na Pipa an animated depiction of three duelling kites; Paulo Porto Alegre’s Choro Suite for guitar and flute blending dance forms with improvisatory-like brilliance. Radamés Gnattali’s Sonatina No.2 is a charming guitar and piano dialogue, Roberto Sierra’s Crónicas del Descubrimiento (Chronicles of Discovery) a major addition to the flute and guitar repertoire. Volume 1 of Treasures from the New World (SOMMCD 0609), saw International Piano praise Iruzun as “a sterling advocate with impeccable phrasing, tone and timing”, Fanfare hailing it “a first-class release”. BBC Music Magazine lauded Volume 2 (SOMMCD 0632) “a delightful programme… every bit as vibrant as the previous volume”. Clélia Iruzun’s SOMM recordings include two volumes of music by Federico Mompou (SOMMCD 0121, 0155). Her recording of Piano Concertos by Albeniz & Mignone (SOMMCD 265) was nominated for an International Classical Music Award in 2019. International Piano said: “Clélia comes into her vivid own, playing with a superb mastery and empathy; it is difficult to imagine… greater skill and affection”.
J. W. STAMITZ Flute Concertos: in D; in C; in D; in G • Robert Aitken (fl); Donatas Katkus, cond; St. Christopher CO • NAXOS 8.570150 (69:15)
The music of Johann Stamitz (1717–57) is largely known through a handful of works. For clarinetists, the B? Concerto is arguably one of (if not the) earliest written for the instrument that uses both the upper clarion and the lower chalumeau registers, and thus earns its reputation for its modernity. Orchestral trios foreshadow the emerging symphony; and his later works, including the La melodia germanica series published in Paris in 1756, not only are some of the earliest to establish the four-movement conventional symphonic pattern, but they also popularized the orchestral effects associated with the Mannheim orchestra, of which Stamitz was the concertmaster. These include rapid scales (the so-called coup d’archet), the layered crescendo (the original Mannheim steamroller), and the rapidly ascending triads known as the Mannheim rocket. Less well known is the fact that he was a prolific composer, who, in his position, was able to experiment with the capabilities of his instruments, the various textures that could be obtained, and with form and structure. As a result, his efforts had far-reaching impacts upon the music and composers that followed him.
Stamitz was active during a period that one either can characterize as galant or (to borrow a term from literature) empfindsam. Both of these are tricky to translate accurately in musical terms, the former meaning something like “polite” or “well bred” and the latter “emotional” or “sensitive” (and there are other words that work as well). But what it really means for the listener is that there is a new sense of freedom to explore the capabilities of the music, to play with rhythm and contrast, and to develop new genres and styles. This disc presents four of his flute concertos, probably written for Johann Baptist Wendling, a flutist who was arguably one of the best of the entire century. Considering that the instrument was made of wood and had only a couple of keys, both the tone production and technical capability was limited, making the instrument more appropriate to chamber work than playing versus an orchestra, particularly one the size and power of Mannheim. In all four works, Stamitz demonstrates a skill that focuses on a dazzling display of technical virtuosity that is rarely overshadowed by the accompaniment. Even when he adds horns, as he does in the two D-Major concertos, the use is sensitive to the overall sonority. As for the flute part itself, if the listener, spoiled by the long, lyrical lines and regular phrases of the two Mozart pieces, seeks such in these works, disappointment will follow. Instead, there is a virtual compendium of pyrotechnics that leaves the listener breathless (not to mention the poor flutist). Rapid runs, leaps between registers, perpetual-motion figuration, and the rapid oscillation between duple and triple rhythms make this a flute virtuoso’s delight, as these works push the envelope of what is technically possible with the instrument. Moreover, in the C-Major Concerto, even the orchestral ritornello is technically demanding for the strings. These are not student works, but require the utmost of agility and ability to perform.
Aitken, fortunately, is quite up to the task. He takes the break-neck tempos of the opening movements with apparent ease and clarity of tone, allowing the display to come through. In the slow movements, he pulls back the throttle, but never enough to dull the sometimes-sensitive lyrical writing. For instance, in the C-Major Concerto, the second movement’s minor key, replete with echo effects, is delineated with precision and displays considerable musical deftness. In the G-Major final movement, he allows for the folk-like main theme to peer through the leaps and runs, providing a contrast that is both pleasing and a welcome relief to the pyrotechnics. Only occasionally does he blur his scales and leaps, though this may be an aftereffect of using a modern instrument.
The Lithuanian St. Christopher group provides a precise and understated accompaniment. One might have wished for more presence in the recording, but perhaps this was a decision by the sound engineer to focus on the flute. It is true that the music on this disc is mostly all about the flute and its ability, and this lends a certain sameness to each of the concertos, but if one concentrates upon the remarkable technical display, then one will find a perfect example of what can happen when a composer of this pivotal period pushes the aerobatic envelope of a more reticent and intimate instrument. We would be lucky to have the remaining 10 recorded in the future. Highly recommended.
FANFARE: Bertil van Boer
Johann Stamitz is a name well known in musical history, but his voice is seldom heard. This latest Naxos disc of flute concertos - two volumes of symphonies and one of orchestral trios are already available - is therefore a welcome release.
Famous as a virtuoso violinist and then as Kapellmeister of the celebrated Mannheim court orchestra, Stamitz presided over the establishment of that band of players and over the development of what became the ‘Mannheim style’ – disciplined playing, thrilling dynamics and innovative instrumentation. He played a key role in developing the symphonic form, and in transforming musical composition from the Baroque style to the nascent Classical sound.
As well as symphonies, Stamitz left behind a large number of concertos, including fourteen for flute. The four featured on this disc probably date from the 1750s and may well have been played by the Elector Carl Theodor, and by Mannheim virtuoso Johann Baptist Wendling, who so impressed Mozart on his visit to Paris in 1763 and Mannheim in 1777-78.
They are beautiful works, but the main problem is that there is little to distinguish one from the other. The two D major concertos in particular sound very much alike, although the horn parts in the second at least differentiate it from it predecessor. The C major concerto’s shift into C minor for the slow Andante offers some tonal variety, while rapid triplet figures for the soloist in the first movement keep the momentum alive.
But one cannot escape the feeling that these works were really vehicles for Wendling’s – or someone else’s – prodigious talents. Attention therefore falls on soloist Robert Aitken. His flawless technique and lightness of touch make him perfectly suited to this kind of repertoire. He is particularly impressive in the hugely demanding cadenzas in each concerto, although his forward positioning in the recording can make the flute sound a little shrill on the ear in some of the higher registers.
For their part, the St Christopher (formerly Vilnius) Chamber Orchestra under Donatus Katkus have few opportunities to shine. Nevertheless, they keep the accompaniment chugging along nicely, hinting at Haydnesque and Mozartian sounds to come.
Gerald Eckert's third release on Mode is a 2-CD set of mostly works for orchestra, often with electronics. Eckert says: "I am fascinated by orchestral works containing the structures of chamber music. For me, the definition of orchestra is not characterized by it's large scale, but genuinely through it's individual voices." His music explores the marginal edges of sound, fractures in tonal constructs, crystalline solidification and instabilities which (for him) always symbolize existential dimensions. Liner notes by Egbert Hiller, in English, German and French. Gerald Eckert, (b. 1960), studied composition with Nicolaus A. Huber and electronic composition with Dirk Reith. He has received numerous prestigious prizes including the C. Gulbenkian Prize, Portugal 1993; the Kranichstein Prize, Darmstadt 1996; 1st prize in Bourges 2003, and 1st prize at the Stuttgart Composition Competition 2005. Top ensembles have performed his music including the NDR-Philharmonie, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Aventure, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble SurPlus, and Musikfabrik.
The Solo Flute: A Selection of Representative Works from the Baroque to the Present
Ars Produktion
SACD
$21.99Apr 28, 2015
The selection of works on this recording is intended to provide no more than a brief introduction to and not a comprehensive overview of this late 20th c. period.The repertoire is too broad and too multi-faceted to be presented here in all its diversity, so the selection was limited to works for ‘normal’ flute, played by the Netherlands-born Mirjam Nastasi, a noted contemporary music specialist and also transverse flautist, who recorded the series’ preceding four volumes.All volumes present a broad spectrum of both well-known and rarely-heard, as well as entertaining and demanding pieces.
Throughout his lifetime, Antonio Vivaldi – a composer of many lyric operas – penned an enormous corpus of works encompassing countless concertos, sonatas, and sacred music. In his concertos and chamber sonatas, Vivaldi reveals his wonderful melodic talent with both deep and elegant allure. The concertos and the sonata of Antonio Vivaldi offered here are seldom performed and recorded. Recorder virtuoso Maria Giovanna Fiorentino leads I Fiori Musicali. “(IFM is) of Europe’s leading baroque ensembles.” (Journées Baroques sur Vienne)
The French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, unlike his near-contemporary Bach, wrote music, and much of it, that, opposing the profound, inward-looking manner of Bach, exhibits a cheerful, somewhat superficial outlook very much interested in worldly matters of kings and courts. In the end, his efforts paid off handsomely, earning him today's equivalent of two million dollars during his life. His bold idea heard here, one that violated the composing precepts of his age, of scoring sonatas for two melodic instruments, are rounded off by later works of others using the same instrumentation.
Mozart: 6 Violin Sonatas, K. 10-15 (Versions for Flute and P
Naxos
CD
$19.99Sep 26, 2006
In April 1764 the Mozart family arrived in London on a concert tour arranged by Mozart's father Leopold which had already taken them to cities in Germany and to Paris. They were to stay until summer the following year. Received at the English court.
Hofmann: Flute Concertos Vol 2 / Seo, Drahos, Et Al
Naxos
CD
$19.99Oct 01, 2001
The four works on this recording are at once typical of Hofmann's flute concertos and at the same time strongly individual in character. D3 was advertised for sale in the Breitkopf Catalogue in 1767; it was probably composed at least a year or two earlier. Although only two copies of the work survive -one in Regensburg and one Prague - it's appearance in both the Breitkopf Catalogue and the Ringmacher Catalogue (Berlin, 1773) suggests that it circulated fairly widely during the I8th century. The work's most unusual feature is the Tempo di Menuet finale otherwise unknown in Hofmann's flute concertos. A significant number of Hofmann's works survive in a single source including many of the flute concertos. G3 presents a unique problem since only the autograph score is extant and there is no evidence from contemporary thematic catalogues that any other copies ever existed. What is even more remarkable, however, is that in the archive in which the autograph is preserved; the Furst Thurn und Taxis'sche Hofbibliothek in Regensburg - there are no performing parts- While it is possible that these did exist at some time and have been lost it must remain a possibility, however remote, that the work was never performed.
Madeline Dring was born into a musical and theatrical family, and gained an exhibition scholarship to the junior department of the Royal College of Music aged nine. Her focus changed from violin to piano and composition, which she studied with Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Her dedication to the theatre opened up a career writing music and songs for Revues & sketch-shows for theatre, radio and television: she had a facility and wit that some contemporaries compared to Gershwin. It is perhaps because of the nature of her work (commissions and performance-specific compositions) that a great deal of her output has been lost. Dring was married to Roger Lord, long-time principal oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra, for whom she wrote a number of works and arrangements that have been collected here. Nicholas Daniel OBE has long been acknowledged as one of the world's great oboists and is one of Britain's best-known musicians. He has significantly enlarged the repertoire for his instrument with the commissioning of hundreds of new works. He is joined here by Antonio Oyarzabal (piano), Adam Walker (flute) and Amy Harman (bassoon).
SOMM RECORDINGS announces the first volume of Prokofiev Milestones, featuring three characterful sonatas and a sparkling arrangement of music from Romeo and Juliet performed by violinists Lana Trotovšek and Boris Bizjak (who also doubles on flute) accompanied by Maria Canyigueral on piano.
Prokofiev Milestones revealingly turns the focus away from the prolific composer’s famed orchestral works and celebrated ballets to his rich and varied chamber music.
First performed in 1943, the Sonata for Flute and Piano (Op.94) is, as Robert Matthew-Walker comments in his notes, “music not of war, but of peace”; a pastoral escape laced with wit and mischief vouchsafed within a pristine neo-classical frame. It is heard again, transformed, in Prokofiev’s own transcription for Violin and Piano (Op.94a). Composed soon after, it lays claim to being “one of the finest 20th-century works in the genre and a genuine masterpiece”.
The Sonata for Two Violins (Op.56) is heard in a new arrangement by Boris Bizjak that eloquently makes much of its sentimentality, drama and vitality.A characterful suite drawn from Romeo and Juliet, and arranged for violin and piano by Lidia Baich and Matthias Fletzberger, revels in Shakespeare’s great romance and Prokofiev’s ardent response to it.
Maria Canyigueral is making her SOMM Recordings debut. Lana Trotovšek and Boris Bizjak’s previous SOMM release was Hoffmeister’s Magic Flute (SOMMCD 0620) with the Piatti Quartet, of which Gramophone approvingly noted: “the challenge falls firmly on the performers… Bizjak, Trotovšek and their accomplices… meet the music’s technical demands admirably”.
The Sleep of Reason - Music for Solo Flute & Electronics
Metier
Vinyl
$39.99Jul 18, 2025
This arresting new album presents a major addition to the solo flute repertoire, bringing together the visionary artistry of flautist Noemi Gyori and the intricate, evocative music of composer Sinan Savaskan. Spanning nearly five decades of Savaskan's compositional output, the album explores the full expressive range of the flute it's lyric warmth, it's structural clarity, and it's capacity for sonic transformation-often in dialogue with subtly woven electronic elements. At the heart of the album lies Sonata '... una rilettura indipendente', a five-movement tour de force that is both architectural and deeply intuitive. Conceived as part of the composer's epic cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, this work embodies Savaskan's radical approach to form and harmony an evolving narrative shaped by transformation, resonance, and reflection. Written specifically for Noemi Gyori, the Sonata draws upon her exceptional virtuosity and interpretative insight, and represents a rare synthesis of structural rigour and emotional intensity. Alongside the Sonata are two additional works, each revealing a distinct facet of Savaskan's sound-world. The Sleep of Reason, for solo flute, offers a tightly coiled musical meditation, born from a nocturnal journey and haunted by socio-political undercurrents and subconscious recollections. Always at Dusk, No.3, for alto flute and electronics, distills a fleeting emotional memory into an atmosphere of suspended time, echoing the concept of duree rather than chronological sequence. The electronics, composed entirely from transformations of flute sounds, serve not as backdrop but as an active, organic extension of the instrument's breath, resonance, and timbral possibilities. Whether experienced through speakers or headphones, the recording invites deep listening preferably in dim light, as Gyori suggests offering an immersive sonic space where listener, performer, and composer meet. An album for connoisseurs of contemporary music, Sonata '... una rilettura indipendente' is a profound collaboration between two artists whose shared sensitivity reshapes what solo flute music can mean today.
Schumann & Murail: Une rencontre / Ythier, Bricault, Vermeulin
Metier
CD
$19.99Jun 21, 2019
Composer Tristan Murail is without doubt one of the most significant figures in European contemporary music circles, known best perhaps for his being a close follower of Messiaen (his teacher was Jeanne Loriod) and one of the prime instigators of the field of spectral music. Murail says this: ‘Early on, every young composer is confronted with an already existing musical universe. Should he accept it, play according to established and consensual rules, or instead, try to stretch or even break away from them?” His answer is generally, to develop new soundworlds arising out of the old and to concentrate not on the serialism fashionable when he was young, but the essential musical sound, investigating new playing techniques and creating a genre practically his own. Marilyn Nonken’s recording of his complete piano music, issued in 2005, remains one of the regular best sellers in the Metier catalog. This new album reflects on his encounters with Schumann and culminates in his re-interpretation of Kinderszenen where his restrained arrangement stays close (but not too close) to the original – it is also a first class set of performances by a stunning cellist. Marie Ythier is a remarkably fine cellist for whom this is the 5th album. She plays repertoire form all periods, but is particularly interested in new music. She has collaborated with many leading composers, holds several teaching posts and has received numerous prizes. Her playing is assured and deft, equally at home in the Romantic and the avant-garde.
The works on this beautiful recording are transcriptions for flute and piano of Franz Schubert masterpieces, from "Heidenröslen," a lied he composed as a fresh-faced 17-year- old, to "Ständchen," written just prior to his premature death at the age of 31. The exquisite and expressive playing of flutist Nadia Labrie and pianist Mathieu Gaudet is seductive. "I have always found this music inspiring, so I wanted to perform a flute and piano version of some of my favourites. Schubert's music is so uplifting, so inspiring, so passionate - it taps into the soul, the voice, the breath of life." (Nadia Labrie) Nadia Labrie is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique du Quebec and the Universite de Montreal. She received the Medal of the Governor General of Canada for the excellence of her college studies, and was awarded the Citizenship Lifetime Achievement Award by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and Celebrations Canada President Marc Garneau.
It may be a cliche to write of the clarity of Gallic writing for the flute - the kind of elegance found in the music of composers like Debussy, Faure, Gaubert, Jolivet, Messiaen and Taffanel - but French music for flute does indeed have a sound of it's own. The flute works of Nicolas Bacri, born in Paris in 1961, uphold the proud tradition of his predecessors with textures of crystalline transparency and poised, almost weightless, melodic lines - and reserves of sardonic bite and freewheeling energy as required.
A unique combination on record of chamber music by the Swiss composer, surveying the development of his voice and career through the medium of the flute. One of music's late starters, Martin grew up as the tenth child of a Swiss pastor and his wife, surrounded by the music of Bach and Mozart. Only once Ernest Ansermet had founded the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande in 1918 did the 28-year-old Martin begin to discover and become captivated by the sensuality of Debussy and Ravel, and this stylistic dichotomy continued to play out in his own music. Among the most polished and individual of his early works is the set of four love-sonnets composed in 1921 to poems by the 16th-century balladeer Pierre de Ronsard. Already the influence of modernism is apparent on the angular and even ascetic shape of Martin's melodic invention, and yet a gentle, atmospheric mood pervades the cycle; this, too, would become a hallmark of his sound-world. In 1939, Martin began what would become a series of instrumental ballades with the competition piece which is still his best-known work for flute. In the same year, he followed it up with a Ballade for alto saxophone which he then arranged for flute; both works are fine examples of Martin's ability to reconcile serialism with tonality. A neoclassical (or rather, neo-Baroque) spirit infuses the Sonata da Chiesa of 1940 with solemn, Protestant gravity, yet the flute part still sings with the lyricism of the early Sonnets. From after the war, the Trois Chants de Noel (1947) distil the mystery of Christmas into three brief settings of texts by the Swiss poet Albert Rudhardt (1894-1944). A trio of Minnelieder (1961) masterfully strips Martin's language to the bone in a distinctive 'late style', where flute and guitar support and punctuate the sung line with an archaically flavoured modernity. Almost all these works have attracted no more than one or two recordings, but gathered together by these expert Italian musicians, they paint a new and compelling portrait of Martin as a spiritually engaged modernist. - Frank Martin (1890-1974) was a Swiss composer, who lived for most of his life in The Netherlands. Hs oeuvre spans orchestral works, oratorios, and chamber music. Martin's style defies easy categorization, blending elements of neoclassicism, serialism, and Gregorian chant. His vocal works reflect his spiritual depth and musical mastery. - Frank Martin wrote a not a large but a significant number of works for flute, including the Ballade for flute and piano (1939), the Deuxieme Ballade for flute and piano (1939) and the Church Sonata for flute and organ (1941). Of these three, only the Ballade is an original work for flute, as the Deuxieme Ballade and the Church Sonata are the author's transcriptions of earlier scores. Also included in this new recording are works for soprano and instrumental ensemble, featuring flute, oboe, harp, viola and cello. - A fascinating collection of a highly original voice in 20th century music! - Played by Daniele Ruggieri, Monica Bacelli and several excellent Italian instrumentalists.
Sancan: A Musical Tribute / Bavouzet, Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic
Chandos
CD
$10.99$21.99Save 50%May 05, 2023
Without question born a little too late in a century of huge upheavals, Pierre Sancan has almost completely disappeared from our memories. He nevertheless occupied a place at the heart of the history of French music in the second half of the twentieth century: composer, pianist, teacher, and an extremely endearing personality, as one will discover on this disc.
This program of the Piano concerto, orchestral works, works for solo piano, and the flute Sonatine (played by Adam Walker) serves as a personal tribute to Sancan from both pianist and conductor, and will hopefully help to raise awareness of this gifted composer.
Opus Klassik prizewinner Tatjana Ruhland has been described as “the Paganini of the flute,” and in December 2018 the Tagesspiegel, commenting on her interpretation of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune with the Berlin Philharmonic, termed her »a fabulous faun« and declared: “Already the first measures justify the jubilation at the end.” Now she once again is heard as an interpreter on cpo, this time with more flute concertos by August Eberhard Müller. The critics showered her with praise for Vol. 1, for her rendering of the concertos with »inexhaustible musicality« (klassik-heute.com). The three new Flute Concertos Nos. 5, 7, and 8 show once again that the composer, who dedicated himself to this genre or instrumentation throughout his life, was a great admirer of Mozart. As in the case of almost all his concerto compositions, Müller himself was the soloist in these three works, which enjoyed great popularity and soon numbered among the repertoire pieces for traveling flute virtuosos. His seventh concerto receives tonal reinforcement lending it a special character: trumpets and timpani enhance the overall sound picture. Magnificent!
Schneider: Three Flute Concertos / Riet, Moesus, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
CPO
CD
$18.99Jun 17, 2022
Georg Abraham Schneider was born in Darmstadt in the same year as Beethoven. His musical talent became apparent at a very early age, and after an educational trip to Rheinsberg, he was engaged by Prince Heinrich of Prussia as a horn player for the Rheinsberg Chapel. The composer Schneider is a representative of the spirit of Haydn and Mozart, who wanted to be understood as their preserver. In the reviews, he was attested to compositional skill and a dignified artistry that was committed to the bourgeois taste of the time. Schneider wrote a remarkably large number of compositions for flute, including four flute concertos, about 90 flute duets, and 60 quartets for flute and string trio. The charming, very light-hearted, three-movement Flute Concerto op. 12 is in classical concerto form, and the Mozart model is clearly audible. His Concerto op. 53 conforms to the classical scheme of the instrumental concerto, with ample opportunity for soloist Gaby Pas-Van Riet to display her virtuosity. The work charms with lovely delicate themes that offer the flute every opportunity to explore the instrument's tonal spectrum. In the Concerto op. 63, printed in Leipzig in 1812, the orchestra is augmented with two trumpets and timpani in addition to the double instrumentation of oboes, bassoons and horns. Schneider here demonstrates his ability to orchestrate a concerto well and to use the winds effectively.
Dodgson: Chamber Music, Vol. 5 – Music for Winds II
Toccata
CD
$20.99Feb 07, 2020
This fifth album in the Toccata Classics survey of the chamber music of London-born Stephen Dodgson (1924-2013) offers a second installment of his many works for woodwinds, as well as a duo for the unusual combination of horn and harp. Much of it brings Dodgson's sense of fun to the fore, often through rhythmic mischief or an insouciance that recalls Poulenc. It can have a spiky vivacity that suggests Janácek, too, and a hint of Baroque formality - but it also has that particularly English strain of lyricism that suggests the impermanence of beauty.
Foremost among Swedish Baroque composers, Johan Helmich Roman travelled to England then to France, Italy, Austria and Germany, gaining valuable firsthand knowledge of European music. At home in Stockholm he conducted the court orchestra, introduce.
Flutist Roberto Fabbriciani continues his releases dedicated to the flute repertoire of single composers with works by Belgian composer Henri Pousseur (1929-2009). Previous releases on Mode featured Aldo Clementi and Bruno Maderna. As with the preceding Clementi and Maderna releases, this Pousseur release marks the first time Pousseur’s works for flute have been collected in one recording. It is important to note that Fabbriciani had a long working relationship with the composer. The series of Flexions was composed in 1979 for the performance examinations at the Conservatory in Liège, where Pousseur had been director for 3 years. It aims to introduce students to the diversity of post-tonal harmonic materials without discarding any contact with tradition and the harmonic qualities of the standard repertoire. Two pieces belong to the category of open or mobile form works. The score of Éclipticare (2001) is a proposal to be elaborated (completed). Fabbriciani has made two different versions, including extended playing techniques prominent in the contemporary flute repertoire but largely unused by Pousseur in his written scores. Éclipticare builds a kind of bridge to Zeus jouer de flûtes (2006), a score that is co-signed Pousseur-Fabbriciani for good reasons. Pousseur provided the tape (Hymne à Zeus ornothologue, extracted from the eight Études paraboliques, 1972) as well as a “plan of action” indicating the specific time-spans and the choice of instrument to be used according to the tessitura (from bass-flute to piccolo). All the other details remained in Fabbriciani’s hands. This type of collaboration had long been part of Pousseur’s practice and is also the outcome of his firm belief in the social and human importance of sharing. In addition to the flute repertoire, this release also includes Pousseur’s Scambi for electronic tape, composed in 1957 and realized by Pousseur at the Studio di Fonologia in Milan at the invitation of Luciano Berio.
Mercadante: Flute Concertos Nos. 1, 2 And 4 / Gallois, Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla
Naxos
CD
$19.99Dec 10, 2013
MERCADANTE Flute Concertos: No. 2 in e, op. 57; No. 4 in G; No. 1 in E, op. 49 • Patrick Gallois (fl, cond); Snf Finlandia Jyväskylä • NAXOS 8.572731 (57:34)
Saverio Mercadante’s flute concertos are apparently more popular than I’d have thought—the one in E Minor especially—for not a few recordings of them have been previously reviewed in these pages. How memorable are they? Well, for me, they must not have made any lasting impression at all, for it wasn’t until I checked the Fanfare Archive that I realized I had reviewed a two-disc set of the composer’s flute concertos on Dynamic, performed by flutist Mario Carbotta. What’s interesting, though, is that in only three instances, going back to the early 1990s, have these works been taken up by players with names familiar enough to be recognized by general listeners outside of flute circles: James Galway, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Peter-Lukas Graf. This new release on Naxos thus appears to be the first in two decades to feature an internationally renowned flutist with a name readers are sure to know, Patrick Gallois.
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (1795–1870) was primarily a composer of operas. No surprise there; if you were a composer in 19th-century Italy, that’s what you did for a living, and Mercadante must have lived well, for his output of operas was prodigious—at least 60 that we know of. He was also long-lived enough to have witnessed the comings and goings of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, and to have been around for a good portion of Verdi’s life. While in Paris at Rossini’s invitation in 1836, Mercadante attended performances of operas by Meyerbeer and Halévy, and is said to have been strongly influenced by the French emphasis on grand, dramatic spectacle. After spending some time in Vienna, Spain, and Portugal, Mercadante returned to Italy, settled in for the long haul, and set to work.
Unlike most of his opera-composing Italian contemporaries, Mercadante seems to have had more than just a passing interest in instrumental music. His flute concertos and chamber works that include a flute can be explained by his majoring in the instrument as a student at the Naples Conservatory, but orchestration became a lifelong passion for him. He took special pains with the instrumental scoring in his operas, and during the last 30 years of his life, while director of the Conservatory at which he’d been a student, Mercandante composed a goodly number of non-operatic works. During his last seven years, from approximately 1863 on, he became nearly totally blind.
Sometimes it’s harder than other times to intuit why one composer’s works survive while another’s lose their appeal. Certainly, in his day, Mercadante rivaled Rossini and Donizetti in the field of opera. But for the very first time ever in these pages, I reviewed an opera in 36:6, and that opera happened to be Mercadante’s Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio, categorized as a melodramma giocoso. I didn’t come away from it with a very positive opinion, describing the piece as “an Italian singspiel, and not a very good one, with nary a single memorable tune in this over an hour-and-a-half-long jocularity fit for whistling while you work.” I’m sure it’s not fair to judge Mercadante by this one opus, especially since it may not be representative of his operatic output as a whole, but in a 14: 4 review of Mercadante’s Il reggente, David Johnson wrote: “He was a composer of great gifts, but they were not great enough to survive direct comparisons with the triumvirate of Rossini, Donizetti, and Verdi, whose styles are all reflected in his operas. And he had the unlucky fate of choosing subjects that other composers had or were about to treat more memorably.”
To the extent that Mercadante is remembered today it’s mainly for his seven or so flute concertos, which, in their musical style and virtuoso demands on the soloist, are strongly reminiscent of Paganini’s violin concertos. If the flute could only play double-stops and chords and had the range of a violin, you could almost substitute one for the other. Each begins with an imposing introductory exposition that prepares for the grand entrance of the prima donna. Only in this case, she turns out to be a slip of a thing, a mere mouse, compared to the lioness the orchestral set-up has led us to expect. No disrespect intended towards Patrick Gallois and his brilliant fluting, but there’s something almost comical when the soloist enters twittering and tweeting away after such grandiloquent promises of things to come. It reminds me of the LOL jew’s harp concertos by Albrechtsberger.
Anyway, if you’re a flute fancier, you are guaranteed to find Mercadante’s concertos scintillating entertainment, and Gallois’s performance of them will take your breath away. It’s a miracle they don’t take his breath away, as he twirls and twizzles his way through a seemingly endless triathlon of rapid runs, arpeggios, and register leaps without ever once missing a beat or showing the least sign of strain. This is flute playing on an epic scale, and it’s matched in kind by the 38-member-strong Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, amazingly well-led by Gallois as he’s playing.
Truth be told, the flute is not high on my list of favorite instruments, but if even I can appreciate the works on this disc and marvel at the execution, think how much you’ll love it if you actually like the flute. A two-thumbs-up recommendation.
Bonis: Complete Music for Flute & Piano / Ancillotti, Grasso
Brilliant Classics
CD
$12.99$16.99Save 25%Jan 19, 2024
Mélanie Bonis was one of the most interesting and prolific composers in France in the 20 years before the First World War. Obsessed with striking a balance between music and family, she came to notoriety late, becoming the first woman on the board of the Society of Music Composers. Nevertheless, The Great War put an end to any further publication, with Bonis devoting herself to sacred music (for organ or voice) and pedagogical works. She left a large amount of unpublished material to posterity, however, which demonstrates a knowledge of compositional and orchestrational technique unfairly neglected in her lifetime.
Bonis’s talents found expression in many genres, and the piano was undoubtedly her favorite instrument. Nevertheless, in her chamber music scores the flute is often the protagonist, and in the flute repertoire, Bonis’s chamber music output bridges the gap between Romanticism and Impressionism.
J.S. Bach: Partita & Concertos / Halubek, Il Gusto Barocco
Berlin Classics
CD
$20.99Mar 31, 2023
Introducing Il Gusto Barocco's latest album, a new approach to Baroque music. Each ensemble member is given a platform to showcase their talents as a soloist, choosing their own program and interpreting the selected works in a very special way. Director Jörg Halubek believes in the concept of "extended chamber music," where players must always think and perform as soloists while still valuing the importance of ensemble playing.
The members of Il Gusto Barocco all studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, which has led to a shared aesthetic background. The ensemble's goal is to bring the music to life and not impose their own personal listening habits on the audience. Flautist Claire Genewein performs Johann Sebastian Bach's Flute Partita in A minor on the album, playing it without bass accompaniment, as Bach most likely intended. This recording offers a unique interpretation, especially regarding playing speeds, that sets it apart from others. Il Gusto Barocco's latest album is a must-listen for fans of Baroque music looking for a fresh take on the genre.
Okpebholo: Lord, How Come Me Here? / Bridges, Liverman, Sánchez
Navona
CD
$16.99Feb 11, 2022
On LORD, HOW COME ME HERE?, composer Shawn Okpebholo turns the mirror of history on today’s society with a reimagined collection of spirituals by enslaved Africans and American folk hymns that draws upon music from the past to critique contemporary racial injustices in the United States and around the globe. An ensemble of mezzo-soprano, baritone, piano, cello, and flute poignantly bring Okpebholo’s music to life, from hopeful anthems celebrating community to laments between a mother and her Creator and hymns celebrating faith and hope over hate and fear.
REVIEWS:
As a collection of Negro spirituals and American folk hymns recast as contemporary art songs, Lord, How Come Me Here? is a natural sequel to Shawn E. Okpebholo's 2014 set of reimagined spirituals, Steal Away...Many of the spirituals and hymns are familiar yet are strikingly reborn in these arrangements.
Shifting gears, Bridges pairs with Altino for the heartbreaking lament “Lord, How Come Me Here?,” the cellist less supporting presence and more duet partner; as captivating as the singer's performance is, she's equaled by the passion of his playing. Countering the despair permeating the lament, the album's spiritual and folk hymn sides come together in the medley essayed with conviction by Liverman and Sánchez, “I've Never Felt Such Love / What Wondrous Love is This.” Meanwhile, Bridges captures the yearning of “Oh, Glory” with a transporting, gospel-tinged vocal, her impact all the greater for the restraint Sánchez shows in his accompaniment. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” stands out from the others for adding Thomason-Redus's flute to the Liverman-Sánchez pairing and for the jazzy swing treatment given the spiritual.
Throughout the recording, the material wears its art song garb comfortably, but emotional expression is no less pronounced in the updates as it is in the songs as originally presented. Okpebholo benefits immeasurably in having vocalists of the calibre of Bridges and Liverman with him, and the performances by the instrumentalists are as strong. None of that should overshadow, however, the fact that Lord, How Come Me Here? came into being through Okpebholo's efforts and crystallizes his thematic vision into song.
Flauta andina: 20th Century Andean Music for Flute & Piano / Velasco, Sommer
Naxos
CD
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Aug 12, 2022
The rich variety of colors and rhythms in South American culture and music are an essential feature of this program for concert flute and piano, which focuses largely on music by composers from the Ecuadorian Andes. Opening with Durán’s popular and crowd-pleasing Leyenda incásica, the theme of Ecuadorian dances continues in Jacinto Freire’s Suite, which also celebrates the flight of the condor. Virtuosity, evocations of landscape and expressive traditional songs can all be found here, concluding with Mexican composer Samuel Zyman’s internationally acclaimed Flute Sonata No. 1, which ranges from lyrical introspection to intensely contrapuntal dialogue.
