SACDs - Poulenc

Reinecke's work is a musical re-telling of the well-known story of Undine, the water spirit who marries a knight, but is betrayed and takes her revenge on him. Frank Martin's virtuosic Ballade (1939) features an acrobatic flute cadenza, roaming melismas and irrepressible cascades, generating a compelling sense of drama. In 1945, while in exile during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Martinu composed his Flute Sonata, in which the virtues of his distinct musical language are plain to hear - lyrical lines, a rhythmic drive which is both energetic and lively and an effective use of tone colour. Six years later the bird-lover Messiaen composed Le merle noir, constructed around the song of the blackbird, which he painstakingly noted down and then found the means to imitate on the flute. Poulenc's melodic Sonata, finally, has become a signature work for its composer: its lightness, transparency and sonic refinement have charmed audiences ever since the first performance.

This SACD presents main works of the repertoire for flute and piano from the 20th century. Regarding the history of the flute, this period is of particular interest since the flute underwent a remarkable revival as a solo instrument during this time.

The sonatas by Henri Dutilleux and Francis Poulenc represent the impulse for this development, which originated in France. In his series of sonatas for every melodic instrument, accompanied by piano, Paul Hindemith began with the flute. Frank Martin, the mediator between the German and French traditions, created a colourfully eloquent variant of the sonata form with his 'Ballad'. The sonata written by the American composer Robert Muczynski became the most famous example of his classicist, brilliant style.

Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann is one of the most renowned German flautists of her generation. She regularly performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in Germany and across the globe. She is co-principal flute of the Opern- und Museumsorchester Frankfurt am Main; in addition, since October 2009 she has been Professor of Music at the Hochschule für Musik in Nuremberg.

The Finnish Kaamos Chamber Choir has recorded on this new disc, Valossa - From darkness to light, a cappella repertoire from its varied performance programme. The items range from folk song arrangements, to classical, and from Renaissance, to present day. The emotions and stories portrayed in the songs trace a thematic transition from dark winter days to light summer nights. The present disc is the culmination of a journey lasting nearly five years. The choir is conducted by talented Dani Juris.

Winners of a number of awards, the sisters Mona and Rica Bard now present their first CD, a pas de deux though 80 years of French piano music. At one and at two instruments, they create a panorama of piano sound, ranging from the simulation of orchestral colours, percussive and motoric élan to the suggestion of an intensive song-like quality. With Bizet‘s Jeux d’enfants, Ravel‘s Rapsodie espagnole and Poulenc‘s Sonata for Two Pianos, this SACD contains three 'secret' masterworks by their respective composers. With its combination of elegance, irony and samba rhythms, the Scaramouche Suite quickly became Darius Milhaud‘s most popular work. Four hands, two sisters, one pulse – Mona & Rica Bard have won national and international awards at competitons; among them the German Music Competition, the Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Palma d`Oro (Finale Ligure) and the Concorso Internazionale per Duo Pianistico Twenty Fingers (Rome). The Ensemble was accepted in the National Selection of Young Artists’ Concerts of the German Music Council and in the artists’ list of the association Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now. Extensive concert engagements have taken Mona & Rica Bard throughout Europe, to Asia the USA and to numerous festivals such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the NCPA May Festival Peking and the Chicago Piano Duo Festival.