Zdeněk
Bruderhans is former principal
flautist of the Prague Radio Symphony
and Grand Prize winner of the Prague
Spring Festival Competition. He was
Professor and Dean of Music at the University
of Adelaide when this issue was released,
and with Abitrium Records being an Australian
label we begin to see the connection
– a Czech programme performed by a Czech
flautist in Adelaide must however make
this CD something of a rarity.
Just over an hour of
any unaccompanied orchestral instrument
might be considered something of a challenge,
but the Elder Hall provides us with
a nice, resonant acoustic. Bruderhans’
flute is given plenty of ‘presence’
without having a microphone parked under
his nose, so there are few acoustic
nasties waiting in the high registers.
Being a flautist myself,
I can imagine nothing worse than having
a recording of mine picked at by another
flautist, so I would like to reassure
potential purchasers and students that
any remarks I might have are of course
subjective. Should the programme attract
- and you won’t find this repertoire
anywhere else in a big hurry - you will
find that this is a fine recital disc,
and in general a worthwhile addition
to any flute collection.
Stamitz’s 8 Caprices
might more normally be considered
as study rather than concert material
by many flautists, but as a contemporary
of Mozart Stamitz’s works stand as the
Classical equivalent of Telemann’s 12
Fantasias in the Baroque. Never
one to be dogmatic about interpretation
I am reluctant to pick the bones of
every phrase, and in any case Bruderhans’
playing is idiomatic and technically
proficient. I’m not always 100% with
him on intonation, and his sound sometimes
has a slightly strangled ‘throat vibrato’
quality which worries me a little. The
second Andante Caprice is a case
in point, with the added, smaller problem
of rising and falling intonation with
increasing or decreasing dynamic. The
more lively movements come off better,
and Bruderhans’ articulation is powerful
and rapid. Other aspects are there to
be agreed or disagreed with, and students
can make up their own minds or discuss
such things with their teachers – hearing
recordings like this is always useful,
if only so you can say, ‘oh no, I wouldn’t
do it like that’ or, ‘wow! so
that’s how you do it…’
Jindřich
Feld is a name all of us flautists
should know and respect, and his Concerto
and Sonata for flute are among the best
in the repertoire. The Four Pieces
are powerful and expressive solo
works, with a meatily serial Méditation
as a first movement, a wild Caprice,
an Hommage to Bartòk in the third,
and a final Burlesque which would
challenge any player’s technique to
the limits – Bruderhans manages the
final top F4 with aplomb.
Two
works by Jan Klusák follow, both of
which are dedicated to Zdeněk Bruderhans.
1-4-3-2-5-6-7-10-9-8-11
is a cleverly constructed 12 tone
serial work which explores the entire
range of the flute. It has the character
of a cantilena, and is not especially
difficult to digest as music. The Invenzionetta
was written as a fast counterpoint
to the earlier, slower piece. Neither
of these works sound particularly atonal,
but this second piece is also strictly
serial. It nonetheless gives an impression
of freedom and contrapuntally elegant
tonality and is in some ways the star
of this collection.
Jan Rychlík’s
Quattro Partite take up the problem
of writing contrapuntally for an instrument
with a single line, with ‘Fughetta a
2 voci’ and ‘Ciaconna’ movements included
into the second and fourth Partitas
respectively, calling William Alwyn’s
‘Divertimento’ to mind. The flute writing
is conventional but highly inventive,
with attractive melodies and a great
deal of contrast, with titles which
refer to dance, vocal and instrumental
music of the 12th to 16th
centuries, capturing their moods in
a fairly light 20th century
idiom.
To
conclude, this is an interesting programme
performed well by Zdeněk Bruderhans.
I suspect he may have been a little
past his prime when the recording was
made, but aside from one or two mildly
dodgy moments and that rather pinched
sounding tone on occasion there
is no need to feel one has to make allowances.
Flute players looking for unusual and
interesting repertoire will find much
to discover here. I for one will be
keeping my eyes open for the 20th
Century works on this programme – and
feel not a little ashamed that I haven’t
tried them before.
Dominy Clements
Zdeněk Bruderhans (flute) 
