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03/06/2022
“Dancing in Dreams”
Claude Debussy: Rêverie, L 68 [1] – Clair de lune, L 75 [2]
Gabriel Fauré: Berceuse, opus 16 [3] - Après un rêve, opus 7, n° 1 [4] – Sicilienne, opus 78 [5]
Astor Piazzolla: Los Suenos [1] – Oblivion [1] – Milonga [1] – Histoire du tango [6]
Maurice Ravel: Pièce en forme de habanera, M 8 [1] – Pavane pour une infant défunte, M 19a [5]

Nicole Esposito (flute, arranger, adaptor) [1], Cagatay Akyol (harp, arranger, adaptor) [1], Robert Webb (arranger) [3], Ervin Monroe and Patty Masri-Fletcher (arranger, editor) [4], Dewey Owens (arranger, transcriber) [5], Kari Vehmanen (arranger) [6]
Recording: Voxman Concert Hall, University of Iowa School of Music, Iowa City, Iowa (August 2021) – 58’
MSR Classics MS 1790 – Booklet in English







Flautist Nicole Esposito and harpist Cagatay Akyol provide euphonious touches to œuvres quarried from French impressionism and spicy cadences of Astor Piazzolla. All selections are adjuncts to original scores, inviting compelling nuances and overtones.


For instance, the opening Rêverie picks up a calypso drift by mildly shifting the rhythmic beat. Several tempos are surprisingly brisk, as is the case during the tender Berceuse and the Sicilienne and even the segue to Ravel’s diminutive Pavane, yet an upbeat lilt begs an open invitation to freshness and tenderness. Contrastingly, an even-keeled pace is retained during the Habanera...very apropos. Mlle Esposito’s airy notes are seductively supported by M. Akyol’s pristine harmonics; performing an arrangement by Brian Noel, Debussy’s Clair de lune still retains that timeless and dreamy value…enchanting.


One of the more vibrant expositions of versatility exists inside the Histoire du tango with its progressive storyline and colorful enclaves. In particular, the fourth movement, “Concert d’aujourd’hui”, demonstrates how Mlle Esposito can effectively pinpoint her directness at Piazzolla’s notes without flaw.


The combination of flute and harp always adds enlightenment and a stately decorum to timeless classics. Nicole Esposito and Cagatay Akyol are superbly matched as a team which makes these arrangements (several of them created by the duo) all the more inviting and enticing.


Christie Grimstad

 

 

 

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