|
POULENC Flute Sonata. MILHAUD Sonatine. FAURÉ Piéce. Fantasie, op. 79. DEBUSSY Syrinx. Bilitis (arr. Karl Lenski). DUTILLEUX Sonatine Richard Sherman (fl); Kimberly Schmidt (pn) BLUE GRIFFIN 137 (56:22) In a recent review, I took a well-known and fine flutist, Jeffrey Khaner, to task for the inappropriateness of his self-made transcriptions of Brahms’s clarinet sonatas, noting that there were many original compositions for flute he could have chosen to play instead. Here, with Blue Griffin’s new release, “The French Album,” come both vindication of my criticism and the perfect antidote. In its playing, its recording, and most of all its music, this is an enchanting disc.
Ever since the time of Boismortier, Hotteterre, and the two Michels, Blavet and Corrette, the flute has enjoyed a special relationship with French composers.
That symbiosis produced many works, particularly in the 20th century, of distinctive and exceptional merit. All of the pieces on this CD come from the hands of important 20th-century French composers, and all were originally conceived for flute. Even Karl Lenski’s arrangement of Debussy’s Bilitis for flute and piano is not as much a transcription of music written for a different instrument, as it is a culling of material from the composer’s Les chansons de Bilitis, originally scored for two flutes, two harps, and celeste.
Milhaud and Poulenc were both card-carrying members of France’s Les Six (the other four were Honegger—who was, by the way, of Swiss birth—Auric, Durey, and Tailleferre). Satie was invited to the party, but chose to ride his unicorn off in another direction. Hearing the sonatas of Milhaud and Poulenc on this disc, it may strike the listener somewhat incongruous that both composers saw themselves and their movement as reacting against the influence of Debussy. They claimed to reject the tenets of Impressionism in favor of a type of French neo-Classicism based on Classical and Baroque models costumed in spiky rhythms, sweet-and-sour melodies, and occasionally acerbic harmonies. We all know that results do not always follow intentions and Milhaud’s and Poulenc’s sonatas clearly seem to spend more time paying tribute to Debussy than to repudiating him.
Syrinx, which is by Debussy, has long been a favorite among flute fanciers. It was written for unaccompanied flute in 1913, the same year that saw the riot in Paris at the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Ironically perhaps, both pieces derive their programmatic content from subject matter of a sexual nature—the Stravinsky, naked, raw, and elemental; the Debussy, autoerotic, suggestive, and repressed.
Fauré is a favorite composer of mine, and I would submit much underrated. For me he represents the link between the late German Romanticism of Brahms and Saint-Saëns (who was accused of being German) and the French Impressionism of Debussy. His brief but exquisitely perfumed Fantasie, op. 79, is a beautiful example of the two worlds in which Fauré lived.
Henri Dutilleux (b. 1916), who is still alive at the time of this writing, is the latest born and most contemporary among the lineup of composers here. His flute sonata is a relatively early work dating from 1943, and is not as representative of his output as is much of his later music. Essentially an “academy” piece written for the Paris Conservatory, Dutilleux’s Sonata is, for its time, conservative in style, looking back to Debussy and Ravel.
I cannot imagine any of this music being more beautifully and lovingly played than it is here by these two artists. Richard Sherman is professor of flute and chair of the woodwind area at the Michigan State University School of Music, with many orchestral engagements and solo appearances to his credit. Kimberly Schmidt has appeared as soloist, accompanist, and chamber music partner throughout the US. He has collaborated with Lucia Popp, Olaf Baer, and as composer with his choreographer brother, Gordon Pierce, to produce the award-winning ballet, The Gift of the Magi.
The recording beautifully captures the ambience of the Great Hall of the Wharton Center at Michigan State University. High praise and recommendation on all counts. Jerry Dubins
|
CD Store 