Debussy · Ravel · Prokofiev

Acclaimed young flautist Emmanuel Pahud presents a program that contrasts two 20th-century French masters, Debussy and Ravel, with one Russian, Prokofiev. Debussy's Syrinx and La plus que lent are short, beguiling pieces, the first a languorous flute solo akin to Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, the second a dreamy piano waltz. Les Chansons de Bilitis is a delicately sensuous and mysterious six-part suite for piano and flute. The three Chansons Madécasses are Ravel's rarefied settings of folksongs from Madagascar; Katarina Karnéus sings with a beautiful disquiet, exploding into a tormented fury in "Aoua! Aoua!" What initially seems an unusual choice for a finale proves most apt, for it would be easy to mistake Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2 for further French sophistication. Light, eloquent, and playfully melodic, the deft interplay of Pahud's flute and Stephen Kovacevich's piano is far removed from the conventional associations of Russian music. --Gary S Dalkin