The glowing richness of Sharon Bezaly's tone is immediately striking. It may be something of an acquired taste compared to the greater coolness of many of her contemporaries but it proves seductive in this enterprising programme. The Schubert Variations take as their theme the tragic 'Trockne Blumen' from Die schöne Müllerin.
Outwardly this is an unlikely choice for a set of virtuoso variations but it's far from the vapid fripperies beloved of many a third-rate 19th-century composer, with Schubert brilliantly transforming his original, to end in a triumphant blaze of light. Bezaly is most persuasive, avoiding the sense that this is a mere technical showpiece in even the most noteheavy variations.
The Prokofiev Sonata, here reclaimed for the flute, is light and fast on its feet. There are more dramatically contrasted readings around but none that offers more scintillating brilliance.
Bezaly is particularly effective in the Scherzo, taken at lightning speed, with the upward glissandi impeccably played, while she makes much of the exoticism of the sinuous middle section.
In the Andante she plays the throaty seductress to perfection. Throughout, Brautigam is an unobtrusively supportive partner.
The Dutilleux Sonatina dates from the same year (1943) and is a tightly knit three-movement structure originally designed as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire. The composer has long dismissed it but it's easy to hear why it remains so popular among flautists, especially in this intensely felt performance, Bezaly darting from bar to bar in the animé finale, as if eluding capture.
Jolivet's Chant de Linos has a simple beauty in Bezaly's hands. Overall, a fine disc, matched by ideally warm SACD sound.

The glowing richness of Sharon Bezaly's tone is immediately striking. The Prokofiev Sonata, here reclaimed for the flute, is light and fast on its feet. The Dutilleux Sonatina… is a tightly knit three-movement structure… it's easy to hear why it remains so popular among flautists, especially in this intensely felt performance, Bezaly darting from bar to bar in the animé finale, as if eluding capture.