Bridge Across the Pyrenees (2006)

Israeli-born flutist Sharon Bezaly now lives in Sweden, where this recording was made with a Brazilian orchestra and conductor (a grand-nephew of Arnold Schoenberg). The program is international as well, with entertaining liner notes presenting an instructive short history of the musical relationship between France and Spain. It is intriguing to learn, for instance, that Prosper Mérimée, the original author of the Carmen tale, once wrote that "Africa begins on the other side of the Pyrenees." But the real attraction here is ... Read More

Israeli-born flutist Sharon Bezaly now lives in Sweden, where this recording was made with a Brazilian orchestra and conductor (a grand-nephew of Arnold Schoenberg). The program is international as well, with entertaining liner notes presenting an instructive short history of the musical relationship between France and Spain. It is intriguing to learn, for instance, that Prosper Mérimée, the original author of the Carmen tale, once wrote that "Africa begins on the other side of the Pyrenees." But the real attraction here is Bezaly, a virtuosa of the kind that's not much made anymore. Her circular-breathing techniques seem to make the flute sound almost continuously, and she has both tremendous speed and, paradoxical as the word may sound when applied to a flute, power. The best is saved for last: Jacques Ibert's Flute Concerto of 1934 has sharp outer movements that allow Bezaly to show her best stuff, with flute lines that constantly whirl around the orchestral texture. Sample the beginning of the... Read Less