This collection by
the dedicated and highly virtuosic duo
that is Musica Riservata features modernistic
music for flute and keyboard. All but
the Guoping and the Peng are with piano;
the rest are with harpsichord. Collectors
committed in depth to the modern flute
literature will find this an essential
purchase. More general interest is likely
to be limited. The Guoping, Kelterborn,
Lehman and Wettstein are alive with
skittering activity and flights of shrapnel-like
fragmentation. These are not essays
in lyrical continuity or the long sung
line. Contrast this with Zimmerlin's
Bachian arioso. This is flavoured with
only the deftest momentary dissonance
until the 'evil genius' of the harpsichord
starts to cast its devastating spell
at 1.37. That spell carries over into
the Vassena which is as ascetically
extreme as the title suggests. The Langlotz
is full of a Crumb-like delicacy and
faery fantasy across its eight micro-movements.
The Langlotz, Zimmerlin and Mädder
pieces are the most refreshing items
here although even here your tastes
need to be hardy enough not to be put
off by the apparatus of avant-garde
ivory towers. The four movement Mädder
suite blends Crumb's pointillism with
Ravel and Oriental and minimalist repetitive
gestures (trs.17 and 19). Wettstein's
Seven Miniatures betrays its 1975 analogue
origins with a distinct iron oxide hiss.
It is the only track from that era -
the rest being 1990s (or later) digital.
The Peng item is in keeping with the
avant-garderie of the other tracks but
with a fruitily voluptuous swooping
role for the flute fading into dissonant
decay.
One for modernist flute enthusiasts.
Superbly played, recorded and annotated.
Rob Barnett