Search - Schubert, Pahud, Sage :: Sonatine D385 / Sonata Arpeggione D821

Fluted Schubert

G. S. Fazakas | South Africa | 10/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How to review an album by Emmanuel Pahud. I had the honour of seeing him in Salzburg last year and hearing him in concert. He is definitely one of the up and coming fluteplayers, easily surpassing the late greats, like Galway and Rampal. Galway has also recorded these works on RCA, and whereas his tone might be slightly richer, Pahud has a french virtuostic flair which overshadows Galways playing. The Arpeggione lends itself just aswell to flute as to cello,with tonal control and dynamics well balanced by Pahud. The finger techniques of the runs in the 1st movement are fluently handled. The short Adagio is beautifully projected and it flows gently into the final Allegretto which again showcases Pahud's virtuostic finger and tongue work. Maybe Galway tends to be the more romantic of the two in this work. The Sonatina no.2( originally for violin), lends itself aslo well to the flute and is an added bonus to this disc. Its funny how purists tend to criticise adaptions of works from other instruments, but this only enriches the flute-repertoire.Again Pahud impreses with his tonal colour although the low/high note jumps in the first movement probably suit the violin better.The Andante is gracefully performed as is the Menuetto, with an almost Mozartian feel to it.The final Allegro closes this satisfying work with florid triplet passage work which is flawlessly executed by Pahud. The Trockne Blumen is wellknown in flute-circles, and if not well performed can be boring to almost tedious, however Pahud colours the piece so well that we are transported back to the Romantic era with an almost heartwrenching atmosphere being reached by the performers. The variations are so well performed that I will hazzard a guess that he plays this better than Galway and more fluently. At times Pahud's flute almost sounds like 2 flutes. Le Sage accompanies him proficiently and with much elan, never overshadowing the flute. This is a highly enjoyable disc, and worth its price to any Schubert fan, especially to flautists."