Philippe Gaubert
Three Sonatas for flute and piano
Madrigal
Orientale
Aquarelles
Piece Romantique
Kathryn Thomas (flute)
Richard Shaw (piano)
with Phoebe Scott (cello)
CD Number
DXL 923
Duration
Review Date
February 2001
Printer Friendly View |
This music is saturated in the elegance and lyrical grace that we recognise as French. Long, sensuous lines are gratefully received by the ears; the heart responds to the deeper vein of expression that French composers are so adept at side-stepping to – an emotional sleight of hand which transforms innocence to something darker, more experienced. A relaxed urbanity informs Gaubert’s music, as charming as a spring day, but there will an aside, a confidence shared, en route.
Faure is an obvious counterpart but Gaubert is not as varied - his sonatas’ nine movements tend to merge, however attractively, into one. Continuous listening also tires of the civility of Gaubert’s expression and glinting arabesques. Play one sonata and have a break would be my suggestion. But then the CD could be better laid out: starting with Madrigal, ending with Orientale (pleasing miniatures that do not suggest they belong – as the sonata-movements do – to a bigger design), the sonatas themselves would benefit from being separated by the Aquarelles – three ’pictures’ – and Piece Romantique because of the additional timbre of a cello, which gives Gaubert not only an extra part but widens his creativity.
As for Gaubert himself: he was born in 1879, died in 1941, was a highly regarded flautist (his writing for the instrument is assured and idiomatic) and developed parallel careers as a composer and conductor; as the latter he made a number of recordings including the Second Daphnis Suite with Walter Straram’s Orchestra in 1930 and Saint-Saens’s Second Concerto with Rubinstein in 1939.
As to this CD, the recording – dry and forward – is well balanced and truthful (save for a suggestion of an edit at 2’ 41" in track 5, which headphone listening reveals as no more than a harmonic peculiarity) and the performances are sympathetic and shapely. I did wonder if Kathryn Thomas could have coloured her playing more (to match Richard Shaw’s more vivid response) – which might be another way of saying that the sonatas need a bit more help to keep them interesting – but the music is worthy of advocacy and it’s good to find these skilled musicians exploring the byways of their repertoire.
Flute-fanciers and francophiles needn’t hesitate. Could Deux-Elles please remember to include track timings in its documentation?
|