There is no misprint: these really are Franz Hoffmeister's
21st and
24th Flute Concertos, and they are moreover half
an hour long apiece. German Hoffmeister was one of the seemingly countless
truly prolific composers of the eighteenth century, and the 25 solo
Flute Concertos - there are three more double concertos involving the
flute - are among around sixty he wrote for various instruments. His
two Viola Concertos appeared last year on the last Naxos Hoffmeister
release (see
review),
the third of four to date. See also a
review
of his Double Bass Quartets.
Though Hoffmeister's music was widely admired in his lifetime, he himself
paid as much attention to his music publishing business as to composition,
and always had one eye on the hobbyist market. So it is that the Concertos
are quite conventional: from their 'safe' D major tonality and archetypal
fast-slow-fast structure to their elegant tunefulness, they reflect
their creator's canny craftsmanship rather than the hand of artistic
genius. That is not to say they are ever dull. In fact, there is much
to admire, and fans of the flute and the Classical orchestra will pass
many an uplifting, mellifluent hour, especially in the good company
of Swiss flautist Bruno Meier and the dependable Prague Chamber Orchestra
(PCO). Meier's gold flute has an appropriately luxurious tone, and although
Hoffmeister's music does not quite demand "extreme virtuosity" or "place
severe technical demands on the soloist" as the notes claim, he has
no easy ride either. Yet he flutters and cruises gracefully along like
a sunlit fritillary on a summer breeze. The PCO have appeared several
times before on Naxos, most usually performing Jiří (Georg)
Benda, so they are
au fait with the intermediate demands of this
kind of music.
Sound quality is pretty good. The CD booklet is the usual Naxos effort
- slim-but-informative, the notes by Stephan Hörner imparting the
most significant biographical and musical detail. The disc is available
in Germany with the catalogue number 8.551292 and a subtly different
cover. The CD running-time is however equally ungenerous all over the
world - it seems very likely that a third concerto would have squeezed
on. Naxos promise more to come in this series.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
