SACDs - Ibert

Young flautist Katherine Bryan is rapidly establishing her place as one of Britain’s bright musical stars of the future.

For her second recording on Linn, the in-demand concerto soloist performs a selection of 20th century concertos plus Debussy’s Syrinx and Frank Martin’s Ballade.

The Flute Concerto by American composer Christopher Rouse is among his most successful and widely performed works since its debut in 1994. Rouse’s concerto calls for astonishing pyrotechnics for both the flute and the orchestra; Katherine is able to showcase the sheer quality of her technique and her playing.

French composer Jacques Ibert’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra is one of the best-loved and most frequently performed concertos in the flute repertoire. Full of humour, virtuosity and intense technical challenges for the soloist, it is characteristic of Ibert’s eclectic, versatile compositional style.

Despite being only a little over three minutes long, Debussy’s Syrinx has achieved iconic status and is regarded as an essential piece in any serious flautist’s repertoire.

Martin’s Ballade features wide harmonic leaps and tests the full range of the instrument, not least with a memorable section for the low register which sees Katherine relish the challenge.

Katherine Bryan is a rising star having appearing as concerto soloist with leading orchestras worldwide, as well as being principal flautist with the RSNO.

Katherine has appeared at major international festivals as both concerto soloist and recitalist. She has given live broadcasts on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and BBC television.

Katherine was a prize-winner at the Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London, the Young Concert Artists International Competition in New York and was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year for three consecutive competitions. She was also awarded the Julius Isserlis Scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

“My goal is to make the harp better known as a soloinstrument, with all its possibilities, which are often still unknown to the wider audience” says Lavinia Meijer, a new artist at Channel Classics.

At the age of eight, she was already captivated by the magical sounds of the harp, so pure and rich. Her hope is that this selection will allow listeners to experience some of the magic she then felt and still feels.

Lavinia Meijer (1983) is recognized worldwide as one of the most promising rising stars of the moment.

Born in Korea and adopted into a Dutch family, she is now based in the Netherlands. She has toured as a solo-harpist across Europe, America and Asia, showing the many possibilities of the harp as a solo-instrument.

She won several important music prizes and special awards, and in addition to performing the standard harp repertoire, she experiments with electronic music, theatrical music and jazz.

“As if the multicolored strings were her canvas, Lavinia Meijer of the Netherlands “finger painted” her musical montage – rocking back and forth against her harp in rhythms of lively expression.” Herald Times

This new Hybrid SACD recording features four members of the internationally renowned Afflatus (Wind) Quintet performing music by several French composers including Ibert, Bozza, Debussy, Gounod, Tomas, and Françaix. Afflatus Quartet derives from Afflatus (Wind) Quintet, the winner of one of the most prestigious chamber music competitions in the world, the International Music Competition of the ARD Munich 1997. With Radek Baborak, the world famous horn player and Afflatus member taking a "vacation" from the ensemble, the four remaining members, each of which is an active soloist throughout Europe and especially in Czech Republic, have produced an album of music by 20th century French composers. The disc includes Ibert’s ‘The Little White Donkey’, Deux Mouvements, and Cinq Pièces en Trio; Bozza’s Sonatine, and Trois Pièces pour une Musique de Nuit; Debussy’s ‘Golliwog’s Cakewalk’, and ‘The Little Shepherd’; Gounod’s ‘Funeral March of a Marionette, Tomasi’s Concert Champêtre; and Françaix’s Quartet for Wind Instruments.