Emmanuel Pahud – Mozart & Flute in Paris (2021) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Two CDs. Mozart & Flute in Paris brings together nine captivating works, all with their origins in Paris, which feature a solo flute. Emmanuel Pahud is joined by his colleagues from ‘wind supergroup’ Les Vents Francais – oboist Francois Leleux (here also conducting the Orchestre de chambre de Paris), clarinettist Paul Meyer, bassoonist Gilbert Audin and horn-player Radovan Vlatkovic – and by Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts. “The pieces on this album represent different golden ages of the flute,” says Pahud. The earliest, dating from 1778 are two concertante works that Mozart wrote while visiting Paris. The newest, premiered in 2014 by Pahud and the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, is Dreamtime by Philippe Hersant. The intervening period is represented by pieces by Saint-Sa”ens, Faur’e, Chaminade and Poulenc, composers whose music embodies France’s special relationship with the flute.

The title of this Parlophone release is less than elegant and doesn’t enlighten the listener as to the contents, which include Mozart only in the second half of the program and do not specifically pertain to him. Instead, flutist Emmanuel Pahud and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris under Francois Leleux offer a little survey of Parisian flute music, some of it familiar, some less so. Pahud orders the music reverse-chronologically as if to reveal the layers underneath the later efflorescences of the tradition. He is most at home at the tradition’s height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where he catches the light, lively, blooming quality of Saint-Sa”ens works from the very beginning and end of his career. The Flute Concertino, Op. 107, of C’ecile Chaminade is a nice find, with gentle melody merging seamlessly into brilliant virtuosity that poses Pahud no difficulties. There is just one contemporary work, but it’s a fine one; Philippe Hersant’s Dreamtime is inspired by Australian Aboriginal stories (one of which performed the same function for Toru Takemitsu), and it nicely treads the Impressionist/minimalist line. The marquee Mozart is actually less successful; the sound environment of the big Philharmonie in Paris is wrong, and the performances are correct but lack an animated quality. Still, there’s been a need for an album like this, for flutists and those who love them, and Pahud has filled it for the most part.

Tracklist:
1. Emmanuel Pahud – Dreamtime
2. Emmanuel Pahud – Romance, Op. 37
3. Emmanuel Pahud – Odelette, Op. 162
4. Emmanuel Pahud – Flute Concertino, Op. 107
5. Emmanuel Pahud – Flute Sonate, FP 164: I. Allegretto malinconico (Arr. for Orchestra by Berkeley)
6. Emmanuel Pahud – Flute Sonate, FP 164: II. Cantilena. Assez lent (Arr. for Orchestra by Berkeley)
7. Emmanuel Pahud – Flute Sonate, FP 164: III. Presto giocoso (Arr. for Orchestra by Berkeley)
8. Emmanuel Pahud – Fantaisie, Op. 79 (Arr. for Orchestra by Auber)
9. Emmanuel Pahud – Tarentelle, Op. 6
10. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: I. Allegro
11. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: II. Adagio
12. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Thema – Andantino
13. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. I
14. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. II
15. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. III
16. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. IV
17. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. V
18. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. VI
19. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. VII
20. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. VIII
21. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. IX
22. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Var. X – Adagio
23. Emmanuel Pahud – Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 297b: III. Andantino con variazioni. Allegro
24. Emmanuel Pahud – Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299: I. Allegro
25. Emmanuel Pahud – Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299: II. Andantino
26. Emmanuel Pahud – Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299: III. Rondeau (Allegro)