The literature of duets for oboe and flute, with no bass instrument, is not large, and in putting together an album's worth the veteran Swiss musicians Heinz Holliger (oboe) and Felix Renggli (flute) come up with a rather mixed bag of pieces. The good news is that they include some real finds and play them well. The three sonatas for oboe and flute of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach are taken from a group of six he composed at various times in his career, and you can see why this most Bachian of Bach's sons might have been attracted to the experiment. The outer movements of these sonatas are rigorously polyphonic, with the flute and oboe contributing textural variation in the manner of the different stops of an organ, but at a more intimate scale. It's a delightful effect.

Many Baroque music afficionados may remember Scheibe as the author of an infamously vicious diatribe against the music of J. S. Bach ( e.g.: "If only his writing were not so turgid, so convoluted!"). Scheibe's own talents, though obviously nowhere near as stellar as his target, are nonetheless considerable. The two flute concerti on this wonderful recording are seductively and sensitively rendered by artists Maria Bania and Irene Spranger. The musical lines of the inner slow movements are gorgeous and the outer movements are captivatingly playful.

The Complete Works for Flute and Clarinet: In both original works and transcriptions, the Ebony Duo explores Scelsi’s use of special sound colors and his coloring of sound. Transcriptions especially prepared by the clarinetist (and pianist) Michael Raster provide the basis for some of the works on the present album. Yet Scelsi’s original intentions incurred no damage as a result of this recrafting. To the contrary! “The formidable technical demands that playing on two strings with in part opposite dynamics places on the solo violinist certainly justify an adaptation for two instrumentalists – all the more so as Scelsi himself had already been concerned with the “third dimension”, the depth of sound, in connection wind instruments before, especially in the piece Ko-Lho for flute and clarinet.”

Mozart claimed to dislike the flute and, for that matter, the harp as well which also plays a prominent role in this compilation. But in spite of that, he produced music for the flute in a variety of genres all of which is delightful and much of which is masterful. This release on Philips's "duo" series presents an excellent opportunity for an overview of Mozart's works for flute, well played. It also offers a rare opportunity to hear a variety of performers on the flute and other instruments and orchestras.

During the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) a broad diffusion of Western music flowed into Japan, first in the form of military band music and. later, Protestant hymns. By 1900, recitals of piano, violin and song were quite popular. Composers like Prokofiev, and performers such as Heifetz, Kreisler and Segovia also encouraged this musical direction, which strongly followed German Romanticism and French Impressionism. The new Western repertoire found a place with the traditional Japanese music, hdgaku, and as the two traditions came in contact, a new and unique form of music emerged. One of the most fascinating developments in Japanese music was the introduction of new instruments in the south of Japan, and their metamorphosis as they migrated north via Kyoto and Tokyo. Several composers on this disc have focused on natural themes, with water being a favourite and obvious choice. The works have been chosen to give a sampling of the diversity of Japanese music, from the beautiful, traditional folk-songs to the complex and challenging multi-movement works, many of which evoke the traditional instruments, namely shakuhachi and koto.

"Serenade to the Dawn" is an SACD release featuring works by Burkhard, Haug, Rodrigo, Bozza, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Villa-Lobos. Andrea Lieberknecht and Frank Bungarten present some of the most enthralling compositions of the twentieth century for flute and guitar. Beautifully recorded and finely played, this is something new and exciting from MDG.

Among the young British instrumentalists vying to pick up the mantles of the great soloists of a generation ago, flutist Katherine Bryan seems among the most promising, and she takes a major step forward with this, her second release. Her startlingly clear, bright articulation in the upper register is pleasing on its own, yet the real attraction here is that she approaches a repertory intelligently and brings fresh perspectives to it. The Flute Concerto (1993) of Christopher Rouse only seems to be the odd item in the set; Rouse's instrumental writing, with its intricate grasp of texture and register, is truly a descendant of the French (and French-Swiss) music on the rest of the album, and it was an inspired choice in terms of showcasing Bryan's technique as well. The three central movements have a memorial tone, with flute solos woven into Rouse's characteristically spacious chords, and Bryan has the stamina to stick with the long line here. Ibert's delightful Concerto for flute and orchestra (1934) receives an absolutely crackling performance from Bryan.

A gaping hole in the flute repertoire opened during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was not until the genial Theobald Boehm carried through his technical improvements on the transverse flute, formerly imperfect but now endowed with radiant sound, that this instrument once again was able to interest composers. The FlautoPiano Duo with Helen Dabringhaus and Fil Liotis surprises us with a program brimming with wit and virtuoso lightness and featuring none other than Ludwig van Beethoven.

François Devienne was among the most important composers of wind music in the second half of the 18th century and one of the founding teachers at the newly established Paris Conservatoire in 1795. Devienne’s First Flute Concerto was a great success at the 1782 Concert Spirituel and helped his reputation abroad. The Fourth is one of the best of his entire concerto output. All of these works combine sublime melodic elegance and graceful virtuosity, making them among the most attractive concertos of their time.

Saverio Mercadante was one of Italy’s ground-breaking composers in the development of opera, admired by contemporaries such as Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi. But during the years 1814 to 1820, inspired by fellow conservatoire students and their virtuoso teachers, he embarked on a series of works for the flute. They include seven concertos, happy exceptions to the rule in opera-obsessed Italy of the day. The solo writing is vividly characterised, full of technical demands perfectly adapted to the instrument’s then more limited capabilities and permeated with a rich bel canto lyricism.

Jorg Demus is perhaps better known as a pianist than a composer– having recorded more than 350 LP's, compact discs, and videos. He has performed throughout Europe and the Americas and has played under the baton of conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Joseph Krips, Seiji Ozawa, and others. His output as a composer appears to be relatively small and confined to chamber works– but what a first-rate composer he is!

Brothers Franz and Karl Doppler were both accomplished flautists. Their compositions, sometimes written together, reflect the tastes of the period, making great use of Hungarian themes. The famous Duettino sur des motifs américains quotes Hail Columbia, Boatman Dance and The Star-spangled Banner, ending with the inescapable Yankee Doodle. Intended for recitals and conceived with piano accompaniment, the transcriptions and pot-pourris featured on this recording have been orchestrated at the request of Patrick Gallois. The Concerto for two flutes is a more ambitious work, suggesting the young Mendelssohn or Weber.

Mozart's youthful Flute Concertos, K. 313 and K. 314, and the Concerto for flute, harp, and orchestra, K. 299, may not be obvious choices for a sonic spectacular, but flutist and conductor Patrick Gallois finds enough bright and colorful sonorities in these works to make this recording an audiophile's delight. There is no indication that Gallois or the Swedish Chamber Orchestra use period instruments, yet this almost does not matter in their tasteful performances, which seem in all other respects to observe Classical practices right down to including a harpsichord continuo.