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The Flute Collection – Romantic Flute Concertos Ignaz MOSCHELES (1794-1870) Concertante in F major for flute, oboe and orchestra [13’34] With Joris van den Hauwe, Oboe Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848) Concertino in D major [9’50] Jules MOUQUET (1867-1949) Pan et les oiseaux, Op. 15 [6’53] Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Tarantelle, Op. 6 for flute, clarinet and orchestra [6’42] With Guy Vanderborght (Clarinet) Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924) (orchestrated Y. TALMI) Berceuse, Op. 16 Morceau de concours Sicilienne, Op. 78 Fantaisie, Op. 79 Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937) (orchestrated A. HOERÉ) Pièce en forme de Habanera Eugène DAMARÉ (1840-1919) Le merle blanc, Op. 161 for piccolo and orchestra All pieces for flute and orchestra unless otherwise indicated Marc Grauwels (Flute and Piccolo) Orchestra symphonique de la Radio & Télévision Belge/André Vandernoot Rec. Grand Auditorium de la Radio de Bruxelles in January 1990. DDD NAXOS 8.555977 [59’15] .

Of the six discs that I have received for review recently, half have only very brief or no liner notes at all. At Naxos’s price point this is forgivable, and this release contains the most extensive liner notes of the three. Less forgivable is the mistitling of the CD; there are no romantic flute concertos on this disc. To be fair, there is a Concertante and a Concertino, but the remaining two-thirds of the music are not concertos. What is this CD then? Marc Grauwels writes the liner notes himself and tells us about the French flute school of composition and performance, and the circumstances that led to the popularity of the flute in France. He attributes this to the nineteenth century French nightlife; ball-room orchestras in small establishments where the flute played an important part and highly skilled flautists employed by the more sophisticated festival, opera, casino and spa orchestras. This led to show-pieces being composed by the likes of Fauré and Saint-Saëns and the other composers represented here. So perhaps this CD should be titled ‘Popular French Romantic Flute Music’. But then what of the presence of pieces by the Bohemian Moscheles and the Italian Donizetti? While Grauwels himself labels this CD a ‘collection of brilliant French flute music’, he gives no information about the pieces themselves. The pieces are brilliantly performed; the two ‘foreign’ pieces are delightful, especially the variations that constitute Donizetti’s Concertino. The other highlights are the famous Sicilienne by Faure and the two real show-pieces on the disc, the Saint-Saëns Tarantelle and the concluding march by Damaré. Grauwels is apparently one of the world’s leading flautists, and this disc shows why. All in all, highly recommended. Colin ’t Hart . Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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