Mary Karen Clardy - The Solo Flute

This 2007 recording from Mary Karen Clardy presents six solo flute standards. Clardy’s rich tone sings out in an acoustic that sounds much like an intimate recital hall.

JS Bach’s Partita is articulate and energetic, avoiding the sluggishness that many modern flute players struggle with in this virtuosic piece and instead achieving an appropriate breathless quality.

CPE Bach’s Sonata in A Minor is studied and careful, smoothing over many of the eccentricities of the piece. I missed them, but many will appreciate this more elegant interpretation.

Hindemith’s Eight Pieces are also on the reserved side, although Clardy’s effortless technique and articulate playing suit the playful nature of these odd little pieces.

In Syrinx, Clardy experiments more with tone color, resulting in a haunting interpretation of this classic.

The real standout on the CD is Ferroud’s Three Pieces. The first and most beautiful movement is performed with a lovely, light tone and a sense of imminent discovery. The remaining two movements, which I have never in the past found nearly as exquisite as the first, are equally compelling, propelled forward by rhythmic energy and colored by Clardy’s luxurious tone.

The disc concludes with another excellent performance of John La Montaine’s Sonata for Flute Solo, a lovely piece that is slowly gaining more recognition among flutists.

October Trio: Mary Karen Clardy, flute, Barbara Sudweeks, viola, and Susan Dederich-Pejovich, harp

After Syrinx…

This offering from Mary Karen Clardy’s trio contains two well-known works for this instrumentation, Debussy’s Sonata and Bax’s Elegiac Trio, as well as Clardy’s performance of Syrinx. However, the album is a must-have for the third trio, Richard Rodney Bennett’s Sonata after Syrinx from 1985.

The third of five pieces Bennett wrote based on Syrinx, this one mines the possibilities of this unusual ensemble. The work extrapolates and develops material from the flute solo, but also alludes to Debussy’s Sonata, imitating his innovative combination of the three instruments, from the seamless trade-offs between flute and viola to the recurring instrumental role reversals. It is a beautiful work, rich with detail, and the performance is stunning.

All three trios are clearly the work of an experienced ensemble of master players. The group’s warm sound suits the repertoire, and the performances are polished and refreshing. The album is rounded out with a simple Devienne duo for flute and viola, a pleasant and well-performed work, but a bit of a misfit on this disc.

I hope to hear more from the October Trio, particularly in the vein of this impressionist literature that takes such excellent advantage of the group’s coloristic and blending abilities.