Young flautists

Press, 5 October 1985, Page 8

Young flautists

Recital by young flautists under tbe direction of Jane Doig and Rebecca Steel at the Arts Centre yesterday, at 1.10 pjn. Reviewed by Allan Francis. Although the French claim to have a tenuous hold on flute music, most composers have tried out the medium, and yesterday’s recital brought to light the many and varied styles to which the flute aspires. Under those conditions, it is a natural course to follow, if only to avoid euphoria at both sides of the stage. '. . . The repertoire varied as much in quality as in age with works from Telemann up to Gordon Jacob, from Schubert’s “Ihr Blumlein Alle” to the rather shallow virtuosity of “Carnival of Venice.” The programme opened, however, on a haunting note with “The Spell” from Jacob’s “Pied Piper,” a mood adequately captured by Anne Cooper’s solo flute, and balanced by the more compelling “March to the River Weser.” It was here, I believe, that children and

others disappeared. Such was not the case during this performance. This fluent contribution was followed by Amanda Grant’s . playing of Telemann’s “’Air a L’ltalienne,” a grave piece extracted from the flood of that composer’s repertoire. Moments of foregivable self-consciousness affected the playing little, though one was aware of everyone being on their best behaviour, so accordingly the audience too, was found holding breath at the crisis points. Schubert’s “Introduction and Variations on Ihr Blumlein Alle” was a joint effort, which struck a more demanding note. Far removed from the frothy Italian (or French) idiom, Heather Horrell tackled the characterful work with the dedication it warranted. This central work in the programme was obviously the feature attraction of the day, with many demands on tone and volume that would certainly have tested more experienced players. . One small snag which most flautists was

keeping . pace with the accompani jst in the faster sections, bi ,it Miss Horrell was one of ;the least affected. Both pl ‘ayers combined to give a .delightful performance, g’iving a true indication of emerging talent. The sole male player, Peter 1 Svans, was given a lightweight Faure piece, “Morce au de Concours,” which 'was reputed to have lain in obscurity until 1970. It has been given some attentic in since then and the breathp version here was pleasai itly adequate for the occasic in. One had to overcome the prospe ct of Genin’s “Carnival of Venice” as being the Crime warhorse of the day, ut ilt was beautifully handle d by the flute player, supported nobly by the pianist, R osemary Miller-Stott. Flute tone was superb and Helen Bush met the increasing piroblems with apparently 1 fluid ease. Here; again, as with the earlier pieces, one could only hold the greatest admiration for the players at this e arly stage in their careen i and for the discipline in't’<flved.