Composer: Cécile Chaminade, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Carl August Nielsen, Francis Poulenc, Carl Reinecke, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Performer: Sharon Bezaly
Orchestra: Hague Residentie Orchestra
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS1679
Release: 2013
Size: 413 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Nielsen: Flute Concerto, FS119
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Allegretto – Adagio ma non troppo – Tempo di marcia
03. Griffes: Poem
Reinecke: Flute Concerto in D major, Op. 283
04. I. Allegro molto moderato
05. II. Lento e mesto
06. III. Finale: Moderato
07. Chaminade: Concertino for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 107
08. Tchaikovsky: Largo and Allegro in D major (arr. E. Sauter for flute and strings)
Poulenc: Flute Sonata, Op. 164
09. I. Allegro malinconico
10. II. Cantilena: Assez lent
11. III. Presto giocoso
12. Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumble Bee
One of today’s most highly respected exponents of her instrument, Sharon Bezaly is a staunch champion of contemporary music, with 17 concertos and numerous chamber works dedicated to her. But she has also made acclaimed recordings of flute repertoire mainstays, from Mozart’s concertos and quartets to Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto pastoral. Her latest disc includes two central works from the repertoire for flute and orchestra – the concertos by Carl Nielsen and Carl Reinecke – as well as less often heard gems, such as Cécile Chaminade’s melodious Concertino and Charles T. Griffes’ Poem, with its distinctive harmonies and colourful writing. The programme also includes a true rarity in Tchaikovsky’s youthful Largo and Allegro for flute and strings, written while the composer was still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatory. The work was originally composed for two flutes and strings, but as the second flute plays for just 17 of the total of 87 bars, either doubling or filling in when the first player is silent, the two parts have here been combined into one. In contrast, Poulenc’s Sonata is of course one of the most popular pieces in the flute repertoire of the 20th century, but it is here performed in an unusual version for flute and orchestra, orchestrated by the British composer Lennox Berkeley, incidentally a friend of Poulenc. Throughout this colourful and varied programme, Sharon Bezaly enjoys the sympathetic support of Neeme Järvi and the Residentie Orchestra who also join her in the spectacular encore, the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho’s virtuosic arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumblebee.
The recordings on Sweden’s BIS label by Israeli-born flutist Sharon Bezaly have exposed a great deal of neglected and often highly virtuosic repertory, much of its brought within reach by Bezaly’s unusual circular breathing technique. She’s a remarkable flutist, but it’s her repertory selection that really sets her apart from the crowd. She actually throws in some chestnuts, like Cécile Chaminade’s Concertino for flute and orchestra, Op. 107, this time around, but the highlight is a really nifty and unknown little work: the Flute Concert in D major, Op. 283, of Carl Reinecke, composed in 1908. Its three movements reduce Wagnerian language to a compact concerto in all kinds of ingenious ways. Sample the first movement, where the flute provides a charming pastoral element against a varying backdrop. The other works are each characteristic of their composer, even including the very early Largo and Allegro for flute and strings of Tchaikovsky. This was a student work originally for two flutes and orchestra, and it’s a bit frustrating to find out in the booklet not about the arrangement heard here, but about a different one. The Lennox Berkeley arrangement of Poulenc’s Flute Sonata, not an easy work to transfer to orchestra, is more satisfactorily explained, and veteran conductor Neeme Järvi, leading the Residentie Orkest den Haag, catches its many subtle details. This is a thoroughly enjoyable program of flute music of the early 20th century, of the sort that has become Bezaly’s fortunate trademark.