Emmanuel Saenz

Emmanuel Pahud and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande begin this new album of compositions by Éric Montalbetti with his Flute Concerto Memento vivere, conceived in one movement as an ode to breath and life. Duncan Ward and the Gürzenich Orchester Köln have recorded the final and definitive version of Montalbetti’s Ouverture philharmonique, a mini-concerto for symphony orchestra that invites the listener to immerse themselves into the heart of each of the orchestra's sections, and to revel in the work’s multiple combinations of timbres. Finally, Kazuki Yamada and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo perform the composer’s great symphonic fantasy Éclair physionomique, inspired by Paul Klee’s fascinating painting Physiognomischer Blitz, a self-portrait of the artist illuminated by a flash of lightning. Each of these pieces unfolds like an extensive daydream, a journey across interior landscapes that the composer would like to share with the listener.

Interweaving the Baroque era and the 20th and 21st centuries, the newest addition to Emmanuel Pahud's Warner Classics catalogue is an imaginative 2-CD collection of music for unaccompanied flute. Among the composers are Telemann, Nielsen, Honegger, Varèse, Berio, Takemitsu, Pärt, Pintscher and Widmann. "Most of the pieces are about exploring new paths," says Pahud. "The power of this music often lies in the contrast between a simple line and the most refined complexities, between a note so quiet as to be barely perceptible and the loudest, most extreme notes playable on the instrument."

Swiss-French flautist Emmanuel Pahud, named "one of the finds of the decade" by Gramophone Magazine, is one of today's most exciting and adventurous musicians. Appointed Principal Flute for the Berliner Philharmoniker aged just 22, his solo albums have sold over 400,000 copies worldwide, including a Mozart Concertos disc that has sold over 70,000 units.

Guillaume de Machaut was one of the great composers of a pivotal period at the intersection between the late medieval times and the Renaissance. His works include sacred compositions, such as his Messe de Nostre Dame, which took polyphonic music to new summits, as well as popular dances and songs that reveal the influence of the trouvères.
Yet this disc actually contains little music by Machaut. Only the last two pieces are by him. This leads to a bit of confusion: is Calliope trying to use Machaut’s name to sell a compilation of medieval music? This barely seems necessary, yet there is clearly some ambiguity.