Search - Robert Stallman;flute :: The Nightingale in Love: Flute Music of the Late French Baroque

The perfect Valentine's Day gift: Say It With Music

Mark Starr | Los Altos, CA USA | 02/01/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Each year, tens-of-thousands (maybe hundreds-of-thousands) of tourists make the trek to Versailles to get a taste of the acme of French refinement, history and culture in the Age of Louis XIV. Now, they can save themselves the hassle of crowded airports, luggage surcharges and suffocating airplanes, and instead spend a delightful evening curled up with this latest CD from American flutist Robert Stallman -- who just might be the finest exponent of French Baroque flute music since the days of Boismortier, de la Barre and Hotteterre.



In time for Valentine's Day, lovers of the French Baroque can revel in this artfully conceived and sumptuiously executed album -- a veritable Whitman's Sampler of the era's greatest hits -- including Couperin's "Le Rossignol en amour" (The Nightingale in Love), which with Stallman's limpid tone and elegant phrasing will surely melt the heart of even the most recalcitrant beloved more than any aphrodisiac for sale on the Internet. Over-ardent listeners can cool themselves down with Hannah Woods erudite and informative liner notes.



Best of all, Stallman performs these works with a virtuoso technique and the authenticity of complete mastery of French Baroque style. I used to love this music decades ago, until the Early Music Mafia sucked all the life out of this repertoire with their phony dogmas, i.e. performing on out-of-tune wooden flutes at A = 428, with no diaphragm support, no vibrato, breathing every six notes, and placing nauseating hairpin crescendo-diminuendos under every whole-note. Thank goodness Stallman and his excellent cohorts eschew all these nonsensical affectations. Instead, they play this music in an effortless, spontaneous and elegant manner that would undoubtedly have delighted Le Roi Soleil himself.



Mark Starr"

Beautiful Baroque

Pauline E. Monson | Pismo Beach, CA | 02/03/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Stallman is a master of the flute. On this recording he charms us with elegant Baroque ornaments and enchants us with his exquisite tone. My ear believes him to be the best flutist in the world. Technically and musically he stands above the crowds of other fine flutists and no one can produce more beautiful sounds. Edwin Swanbornon on harpsichord and Karl Bennion on cello complete a perfectly lovely ensemble. The quality of the recording, the artwork, and the program notes are all top notch."