Customer Reviews

Philippe Gaubert: Complete Works for Flute, Vol. 3

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If you're like me, you'd never heard of Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941). In his day he was a famous French flutist and conductor. For years he was the flute professor at the Paris Conservatoire. This is the third CD in a series of Gaubert's music featuring the Boston Symphony's second flutist, Fenwick Smith, himself a flute professor at the New England Conservatory. But it is the first issue to come my way. The contents of the CD include original pieces by Gaubert -- firmly in the by-then conservative and mostly dreamily lyrical French impressionist mold -- and a dozen never-before-recorded transcriptions for flute and piano of mostly very familiar works, e.g., the minuet from Boccherini's Quintet in E (known to many from its use in the Alec Guinness film, 'The Ladykillers'), Schumann's Träumerei, a Chopin prelude, a Schubert impromptu, etc.

All of the music is suavely played by Smith and his accompanist, pianist Sally Pinkas and it makes for a pleasant but hardly intellectually engaging 77 minutes. This is music to daydream to and one can hardly deny there is sometimes a need for that.

Scott Morrison

Geniuse French Flute School Master. Beautiful Performance by Fenwick Smith.

Sicilienne: Sicilienne (arr. flute and piano) is one of the ABRSM G6 Exam's Pieces.