Flute Concertos-dalbavie, Jarrell, Pintscher: Pahud(Fl)Eotvos / Rophe / Pintscher / French Radio Po

Following his highly successful and critically-acclaimed discs of Vivaldi and Nielsen concertos in 2007, Emmanuel Pahud now brings his repertoire up to date with a programme of contemporary works commissioned especially for him.

Pahud first decided upon the idea for this disc in 2006 as a refreshing antidote to the number of Mozart works being performed around the world in ‘Mozart Year’. The three works he commissioned also reflect his eclectic heritage as a French/Swiss citizen residing in Germany.

Of the works performed on this disc, the concerto by Marc Andre Dalbavie represents his French background. Pahud says: 'It really is a kind of new contemporary Ibert flute concerto, very virtuosic and very colourful, very sensual, and I think it has a long life ahead of it.'

German Matthias Pintscher wrote his concerto while Pahud was artist-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival. Pahud describes the highly complex work as 'much more experimental than the other works on this recording. It is the most avant garde work I have played so far, in terms of all the special effects required and how to synchronise them with the orchestra'. It is also written as a requiem to French composer Dominic Transir who tragically died at the age of 33.

The final concerto, subtitled 'temp de silence', is written by Michael Jarrell, a Swiss composer whose Triple Concerto Pahud has recorded previously. As the subtitle suggests, the work explores the nature of space and silence, although the frenzied opening contains some highly virtuosic passages for the soloist. However the work eventually dwindles down to nothing, as if moving towards a vacuum. Pahud describes it as 'a human being looking at space, at the cosmos'.

1.Marc-André Dalbavie: Flute Concerto
Emmanuel Pahud
Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France
Peter Eötvös

2.Michael Jarrell: Un temps de silence - Flute concerto
Emmanuel Pahud
Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France
Pascal Rophé

3.Matthias Pintscher: Transir for flute & chamber orchestra
Emmanuel Pahud
Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France
Mathias Pintscher