COMPOSERS: Ginastra,Izarra,Serebier,Vine
LABELS: BIS
ALBUM TITLE: Pipe Dreams
WORKS: Serebrier: Flute Concerto woth Tango; Izarra: Concerto for flute and strings – Pitangus Sulphuratus; Vine: Pipe Dreams; Ginastera: Impresiones de la Puna
PERFORMER: Sharon Bezaly (flute); Australian Chamber Orchestra/Richard Tognetti
CATALOGUE NO: BIS1789
This collection of works for flute and strings focuses on South America. The wide-ranging Concerto (2008) by the Uruguayan-born José Serebrier includes as the fourth of its five movements a ‘Tango inconclusivo’, stopping short of its final cadence to lead into a brilliant finale. In Pitangus Sulphuratus (1987), Adina Izarra paraphrases the song of the Cristofué bird, or great kiskadee, to help evoke lazy afternoons in her native Caracas. Alberto Ginastera’s early Impresiones de la Puna (1934) makes characteristic use of the folk songs and dance rhythms of the high Andean plateau. Pipe Dreams (2003), by the Australian Carl Vine, is a rhapsodic answer to the question ‘What might a flute dream?’; perhaps owing to its context it hints at tango.
Sharon Bezaly plays the solo parts with great sympathy for their idioms, phenomenal virtuosity, perfect intonation even in the highest register, and warm tone. Her warmth is matched by soloists from within the Australian Chamber Orchestra, though the collective violin sound as recorded has a glassy edge. Altogether, the four atmospheric works and Bezaly’s performances amount to an impressive demonstration of the possibilities of the flute.
Anthony Burton