Reza Vali Flute Concerto Deylaman

Many Baroque music afficionados may remember Scheibe as the author of an infamously vicious diatribe against the music of J. S. Bach ( e.g.: "If only his writing were not so turgid, so convoluted!"). Scheibe's own talents, though obviously nowhere near as stellar as his target, are nonetheless considerable. The two flute concerti on this wonderful recording are seductively and sensitively rendered by artists Maria Bania and Irene Spranger. The musical lines of the inner slow movements are gorgeous and the outer movements are captivatingly playful.

Young flautist Katherine Bryan is rapidly establishing her place as one of Britain’s bright musical stars of the future. For her second recording on Linn, the in-demand concerto soloist performs a selection of 20th century concertos plus Debussy’s Syrinx and Frank Martin’s Ballade. The Flute Concerto by American composer Christopher Rouse is among his most successful and widely performed works since its debut in 1994. Rouse’s concerto calls for astonishing pyrotechnics for both the flute and the orchestra; Katherine is able to showcase the sheer quality of her technique and her playing.

The music director of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, the city of his birth, Leopold Hofmann (1738-1793) was a prolific composer. The son of a highly educated civil servant and a student of Georg Wagensil, he wrote dozens of symphonies, much chamber music and about 60 concertos, including at least 13 for the flute. Insistent repeated notes in the upper strings set the stage for the flute entrance in the opening `Allegro moderato' in the G Major concerto. Over a walking bass line, the glittering flute dances in and out of the accompanying strings, sometimes soaring above them, at others engaging in delicate interplay.

The solo concerto emerged in Northern Italy in the first quarter of the 18th century and rapidly became popular across Europe. The five works here demonstrate how concertos for the flute differ in Germany, Italy and France. Outer movements usually retain the virtuosic elements that characterise the concertos of Vivaldi, but the Frenchman Michel Blavet infiltrates an exquisite Gavotte into his work, while Telemann’s superb melodies and rich harmonies are characteristic features of his Flute Concerto in D major. All five works exemplify the Baroque ideal of singing lyricism and passionate expression.

Known for his “impressive virtuosity” (La Presse), soloist Vincent Lauzer is featured in this new album devoted to Vivaldi recorder concertos. Lauzer is accompanied by Arion Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Weimann. Though Vivaldi composed more than 500 concertos, mostly for the violin, he also wrote concertos for wind instruments, including a number for the transverse flute and for recorder. Flutes and recorders were often as included as obbligato instruments in his sacred and secular vocal works.

The unpublished CD features Andrea Manco, flute; Luisa Prandina, harp, in a tribute to the immortal art of Mozart, accompanied by the Orchestra Italian Opera Florence conducted by David Boldrini: Concerts for flute and orchestra n. 1 in G major K 313 and no. 2 in D major K 314 and Concerto for flute, harp and orchestra in C major K 299.