Flute Concertos Vol. 2
Flute Concerto no.16 in C (1795) [24:28]
Flute Concerto no.22 in G (1788) [24:20]
Flute Concerto no.17 in D (1788) [25:20]
Bruno Meier (flute)
Prague Chamber Orchestra
rec. Domovina Studio, Prague, 6-7 October 2012; 5 October 2011 (no.16).
NAXOS 8.573040 [74:08]
A mere six months after the first in this series dedicated to Hoffmeister's
flute concertos (review),
Naxos, Bruno Meier and the Prague Chamber Orchestra are back with a second
instalment, of premiere recordings to boot. This time the programme is more
generous, with three concertos instead of two, meaning only twenty to go.
Hoffmeister was one of the seemingly countless, truly prolific composers
of the eighteenth century, and the 25 solo Flute Concertos - there are three
more double concertos involving the flute - are among an astounding sixty-odd
he wrote for various instruments. His two Viola Concertos appeared on Naxos
last year (see review).
Though Hoffmeister's music was widely admired in his lifetime, he himself
paid as much attention to his music publishing business as to composition,
and wrote with one eye on the hobbyist market. The Concertos are thus quite
conventional: from the straightforward key choice and archetypal fast-slow-fast
structure to their even-paced grace and thoroughgoing tunefulness, they
reflect their creator's canny craftsmanship rather than the hand of artistic
genius. The slow movements in particular are chocolaty; anyone who listens
to Mozart or Haydn primarily for elegant melodies and rhythmic certainties
will find Hoffmeister tasty. Others may find him at times a little too sweet.
Gold-fluted Bruno Meier has no real difficulties to face in the scores,
whether technical or expressive, whilst the dependable if not exactly characterful
Prague Chamber Orchestra provide dabs of background colour. Concerto no.16
was recorded at the same time as those on the first disc and thus has the
same pretty decent audio quality - just a slight lack of clarity in the
strings. The other two were recorded a year later in the same studio; results
are at least as impressive. Notes are again by the musically-named Stephan
Hörner, who still, in among the useful biographical and musical detail,
bandies phrases like "'Mozartian profundity"' and "extreme virtuosity of
the solo part" that are barely relevant to these works.
Byzantion
Contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Even-paced grace and thoroughgoing tunefulness reflect the composer’s
canny craftsmanship rather than the hand of artistic genius.
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