The Transverse Flute at Its Most Suave and Gracious
Paul Weidig | Kane`ohe, HI USA | 12/23/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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 concerto by little-known Johan Joachim Agrell is delightful as well, and the one by Johann Adolph Hasse is a real surprise, because it is far less dramatic and more affecting than might be supposed, given the composer's vast output of Neopolitan opera."