Let me begin by stating that the husband and wife duo of Dinah and Adam
Pounds
have produced a fascinating recording. They have been giving flute and
guitar
recitals for more than twenty years; this has included performances for
music
societies, corporate events and chamber concerts. They have a wide
repertoire
spanning works from the Baroque era to the twentieth century by way of the
romantic
composers. All of these genres are represented on this present disc which
features
music by French composers - Berkeley is an honorary Frenchman. The playing
is
inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable. It is a CD that can be listened to as
background
music, or for the enjoyment of the individual works.
As far as I can see, there is only one work here that was originally
conceived for the flute and guitar - Ibert’s
‘Entr’acte’. All the others are arrangements or
transcriptions of music for other forces. Although I have nothing against
transcriptions in principle, I do find that well-known pieces for one medium
do not necessarily gain ‘added value’ in another. For example,
in spite of Adam Pounds’ eloquent plea for the arrangement of three of
Berkeley’s ‘Five Short Pieces’ for piano in the current
Berkeley Society Journal, I do not feel that I want to here them in this
version. They may ‘work’ but they are near perfect as they were.
The same applies to Darius Milhaud's ‘Corcovado’ from the
delicious
Saudades do Brasil. To be fair, Fauré’s
‘Pavane’ has been transcribed for virtually everything under the
sun: and this applies to Satie’s
Gymnopédies and
Gnossiènnes too. However the bottom line is: do they work? In
most cases, yes, they do - ish. Is there such a shortage of original music
for flute and guitar? I guess there must be. On a more positive note, I
believe that the Rameau and Blavet works are perfect in their balance,
texture and sound. They are ideal transcriptions.
Out of interest, the Jacques Ibert work was part of some incidental
music written in 1935 for a French production of a play by the Spanish
playwright Pedro Calderón -
El médico de su honra. The
Entr’acte was extracted and arranged for flute or violin and guitar or
harp. The opening is impressive - influenced by Flamenco dance; this is a
breathless ‘toccata.’ However the mood changes and there is a
variation on the theme. Once again the Iberian mood is foremost. There is a
short guitar solo and then follows a cadenza and a final iteration of the
opening theme. This piece is beautifully played on this disc.
I have a number of issues with the CD’s presentation. Firstly,
I cannot read the liner notes, such as they are. They have been overprinted
in a white font on a digitally modified photograph, and have become
virtually illegible. I needed to get the magnifying glass on them. Even then
I struggled. Secondly, the liner-notes are not fulsome: I would like to have
read lots more about these works - the Ibert and the Rameau in particular.
Thirdly, what on earth is the reason that nine of the tracks are repeated in
glorious 78rpm sound complete with wobble, surface noise and cracks? It
seems pointless - except as a gimmick. Nostalgia? The recording time - not
including the reprise - is only 38 minutes of music, which seems a bit
short.
So with these caveats, I have to say my impression of this CD was a
wee bit mixed. I cannot fault the playing, and the choice of music is
excellent, in spite of my concerns about transcriptions.
John France
