Search - Michala Petri, Lars Hannibal :: Air - Works for Recorder and Guitar

A Match Made in Heaven

David Burch | Hamilton, OH USA | 11/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The guitar and recorder are a lovely sonic match, blending into a lyrical intimacy. Michala Petri has been the international champion of the recorder since her teen years, combining unequalled technical mastery with musical expression seemingly beyond the ability of this relatively primitive and limited instrument. Now in her forties and as ever breaking new ground for the recorder, she has combined with her husband, the excellent guitarist Lars Hannibal, to record an album of transcriptions for recorder and guitar.While it is not at all unusual to hear recorder and guitar together, it is unusual to hear them playing music written less than two centuries ago. Most of the pieces transcribed here date from the romantic and post-romantic. Most are familiar short works by such as Grieg, Satie, Faure, and Nielsen. There is a bent toward the haunting, such as the lost-in-time 'Sicilienne' from Faure's 'Pelleas et Melisande', and some of Grieg's piano miniatures evoking (or invoking) his special Nordic forest magic. In every case, the two master performers blend seamlessly, and range from amazing feats to the most intense expressiveness.This album excels our time-in-CD-player test, and is the album most likely to be listened to by my wife and I as we fall asleep. Sometimes, though, I stay awake because I can't stop listening.P.S. We were once blessed to visit with Michala Petri following a recital in Toronto. She is as gracious in person as on stage."