Flute and Piano

Saturday afternoon brought Norman Dee (flute) and Josephine Chan Yung (piano) in a nicely varied program:
Dance of the Blessed Spirits (from Orpheus), Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787); Sonata in B flat Major, K. 378, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791); Andante and Scherzo, Louis Ganne (1862–1923); Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. Posthumous, Frederic Chopin (1810–1849); Histoire du Tango, Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992). There was a brief intermission after the Ganne work (a composer brand-spanking new to me).

In the Gluck Dance, I found Mr. Dee’s playing straightforward and nice, if a bit lacking in phrasing. He made it to the ends of the phrases, but just. Whether that was jitters or the slow tempo of the work, I’m not certain. Still, it was nice to hear the work.

Mozart’s sonata followed—Allegro Moderato, Andantino sostenuto e cantabile, Rondeau-Allegro. The opening of the piece was rather odd, with the flute playing in a low register, barely audible. Just for one phrase, but it came back as a repeat. Which leads to a bit of a quibble. It seemed to me that all of the repeats were taken in all three movements, but I saw/heard no variations in the repeats. It was a bit much for me, especially as I’m not a huge Mozart fan. The second and third movements followed suit—played well, and the audience was very receptive.

The Ganne work was relatively short and very well played. The Andante ended with a brief coda, leading into the Scherzo that allowed both players to flex their respective pianistic and flutist (I’m not wading in to the flutist/flautist debate!) muscles.

Both works on the second half were hybrids—the Chopin was arranged for flute and piano (by John Wummer), the Piazzolla (by D. Valeras). Of the two, the Chopin got short shrift—the arrangement seemed a bit weak to me. But, oh, the Piazzolla.

Four movements—Bordel – 1900, Café – 1930, Night-Club – 1960, Concert d’aujourd’hui. Whether the movements realistically charted the growth of the Argentinean and Brazilian tangos is not a call I can make, but there was tremendous variety from movement to movement, and the form seemed to grow and expand. Both the melancholy as well as the vivacious, hot-blooded aspects of tango were fully explored. This was, by far, my favorite piece on the program. Varied, well played, allowing both performers to shine—what’s not to like? I really liked!

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