New Classical Tracks: Parisian flutes
New technology has dramatically changed the way we listen to music. Today it's possible to carry an entire music collection in your pocket thanks to MP3 players. In the 19th century, innovations helped to change the way performers made music. Theobald Boehm was a German goldsmith, engineer and musician. He manufactured what we know today as the modern flute. With his engineering knowledge, Boehm was able to create a new kind of instrument that increased the volume of sound produced by the flute and expanded the technical possibilities for the performer.
The Parisians were the early adopters of this new flute. Within months after he shared it with professors at the Paris Conservatory, Boehm's flute was all the rage in Paris. Music written for this then newly-invented instrument is featured on a new recording called "Flute Music of the Paris Conservatory." The performers are Julia Bogorad-Kogan (who's the principal flute of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra) and pianist Margo Garrett. Many of the works they perform on this disc were used as final exam pieces for the top students of the Paris Conservatory.
Marcel Moyse was a top flute student at the Paris Conservatory during this exciting time in history, and later he served as flute professor there. As an 85-year-old, Moyse taught Julia Bogorad-Kogan when she took a summer master class in rural Vermont. She was 19 at the time. Several days after she first played for him, he looked for her in the crowd. "You," he said, "you will come to Switzerland to study with me. I will pay for everything but cigarettes." Fortunately, she didn't smoke.
As you might imagine, it was a life-changing adventure for Bogorad-Kogan. During her master classes and private lessons she got a crash course in the French and Italian style that so influenced Moyse. In between, she heard stories of famous musical figures her teacher had known like Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscanini, and composers like Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky. Moyse told Bogorad-Kogan about the great composers of flute music, many of whom he knew personally. Their music appears on this new recording, including a work by one of Moyse's teachers, Paul Taffanel.
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Taffanel believed a strong foundation in baroque and classical music was essential for good musicianship, which is why he introduced his students to the great flute works of Bach and Mozart. Like the works of those great masters, Taffanel's compositions display the unique characteristics of the flute. Julia Bogorad-Kogan sensitively and skillfully accentuates the flute's ability to be fast, flexible, and graceful in Taffanel's Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino.
"Sound like light shining through the leaves. Sound blue like water. Sound elegant, like a fencer, not a boxer." By encouraging his student to paint pictures with music, Marcel Moyse helped Julia Bogorad-Kogan to understand the French school of flute playing.
Benjamin Godard's Suite of Three Pieces, Op. 116, captures many different images with the sound of the flute. The opening allegretto is reminiscent of a sweet honeybee gently gliding from flower to flower. It's light and carefree, ending with a brilliant high note as he buzzes completely out of sight. At the center of the slow movement is a delicate romantic melody that's perfect for daydreaming. The final piece is a comical waltz, which in my mind marks the return of that flighty honeybee. This time a lumbering bear with a sweet tooth is trying to catch up to her. Pianist Margo Garrett's steady hand masters an undulating current, while Bogorad-Kogan's amazing breath control creates a dizzying affect.
"Flute music of the Paris Conservatory" is really a fascinating story about the development of the modern flute and the colorful characters who brought that music to life. With this new recording, Julia Bogorad-Kogan and Margo Garrett add yet another chapter to this legacy.
