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Carl Friedrich ABEL (1723-1787)
Concerto no.5 in G, for flute, strings and continuo, WK 50 (?c.1758)
[16:27]
Sonata in C, for flute and continuo, op.6 no.1, WK 123 (1765) [9:21]
Trio Sonata in G, for flute, violin and continuo, op.3 no.1, WK
80 (1761) [10:28]
Sonata in E minor, for flute and continuo, op.6 no.3, WK 125 (1765)
[9:29]
Concerto no.2 in E minor, for flute, strings and continuo, WK 47
(?c.1758) [16:27]
Symphony in C [10:44]
Georgia Browne (transverse flute)
Nordic Affect
rec. Skáholt Cathedral, Iceland, July 2009. DDD
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94304 [72:56]
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This is the third CD by the Icelandic period instrument chamber
ensemble Nordic Affect. Their name may strike the casual browser
as a typical 21st-century spelling error, but it comes in fact
from "the Baroque practice of trying to communicate certain
affects (i.e. the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or
emotion) and to inspire different emotional states through the
composition and performance of music." Georgia Browne describes
herself as a "freelance historical flute player",
and has several creditable recordings to her name, including
a previous collaboration with Nordic Affect.
In this generously-timed recital, Browne and Nordic Affect deliver
a historically faithful, poised and altogether very attractive
account of Carl Friedrich Abel's delightful chamber music
for flute. Abel is better known for his viola da gamba music
and perhaps a few of his forty-plus Symphonies - one of which
originally ended up mis-published as Mozart Third, K.18 - with
a fair amount of it happily served by recordings. But he was
also something of a flautist and wrote up to thirty works for
the instrument. Those heard here are beautifully crafted, yet
relatively straightforward enough to be played by competent
amateurs: an indication of the probable market for these works,
a typical route to financial reward in the second half of the
18th century - although as it happens, Abel died before their
publication.
As a rule, the faster movements in each case are written in
the Galant style that was de rigueur by then, whereas
the slow movements sound more 'old-fashioned'
in their contrapuntal, almost melancholy Baroque idiom. Every
work is defined by an overall mellifluous elegance, typical
of early Haydn or the sons of J.S. Bach, that has the capacity
to please audiences as much today as it did 250 years ago.
There is no flute in the Symphony in C (which the booklet mistakenly
gives as being his op.7 no.1, incidentally), but its inclusion
in Nordic Affect's programme is nevertheless very welcome,
tempting the listener, as it were, to explore more of Abel's
very rewarding corpus of works. The disc is nicely recorded
in good quality audio. The English-only booklet notes, supplied
by Browne herself, are neat, informative and well written.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
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