Reza Vali Flute Concerto Deylaman

The program presented on this release is one more typically found on small labels specializing in the Baroque era than on the major and sonically sumptuous Hyperion label, but for those who enjoy the virtuoso instrumental music of the Baroque it will live up to its surroundings. Naples in the middle of the 18th century was the largest city in Italy and one of the 10 largest in the word. Then as now, Naples attracted distinguished visitors with its scenic surroundings, but it was a hot, chaotic place from which creative people departed if they could. Of the big three Neapolitan opera composers, Leonardo Leo, Leonardo Vinci, and Niccolò Jommelli, only Jommelli is represented here. It's hard to detect traces of their novel operatic styles in these flute concertos, which are nicely oriented toward solo display without losing a sense of overall balance.

One of the more puzzling remarks about the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach came from Mozart, who said that anyone who listened closely would realize his debt to the German composer. That seemed unlikely, given that Mozart only rarely availed himself of the Sturm und Drang ("storm and stress") style of C.P.E.'s keyboard music. But listen to this release by flutist Emmanuel Pahud and you'll get an idea of what Mozart was talking about. It's not just that the flute concertos are basically galant in style, not Sturm und Drang. It's a certain nervous energy that makes the flute bloom rapidly out of squarish themes and keeps you guessing as to what's coming next.

When the majority of flute concertos are lightweight, it is not surprising that leading flautists are keen to expand the repertory, adapting more ambitious works. That is how, on the suggestion of the composer himself, Jean-Pierre Rampal in 1968 came to prepare a brilliant transcription of Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto recorded here by Emmanuel Pahud. A soft-grained flute could hardly cut through orchestral textures in the concert-hall in the way a violin can, but on disc careful balancing without focusing on the solo instrument too aggressively has produced a successful result.

These four flute concertos, here recorded for the first time, span the fascinating half century that saw the emergence of Romanticism from the Classical style of the preceding decades. Each requires different forces, reflecting the growth of the orchestra during this time, while giving a prominence to the solo instrument which would decline as the 19th Century progressed. They are, therefore, rare treasures to enjoy for their diversity and unique position in musical history.

Award-winning composer Reza Vali is a native of Iran but is now based in the United States after studies in Europe. Vali’s distinctive cross-cultural style is founded in a quiet rebellion that saw him return to his Persian musical heritage. Following the dazzling concert opener Ravân, Vali has taken a text by 13th-century poet and mystic, Rumi, two traditional texts, and words by Vali himself, to create the moving cycle The Being of Love, with each song evoking a different aspect of love. Isfahan uses Persian modes and forms, and is among Vali’s most striking microtonal works, pushing the orchestra beyond its usual twelve-note sound-world in an exciting way.

The instrumental concerto occupies a very prominent place in the music of Krzysztof Penderecki. This fact is related to the great life force exhibited by this genre in twentieth century and in contemporary music. It is stimulated by commissions from virtuosos and by audience expectations; also favourable is the composers’ flexibility in approaching the form, whose chief idea continues to be the juxtaposition of the solo instrument and the orchestra. The violin and viola works presented on this CD are not only interesting, concrete realizations of the concertare idea in Penderecki’s music, but also examples of this composer’s sonic language and style in the period of his creativity which Mieczyslaw Tomaszewski called a "time of dialogue with the regained past".