The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

"La Belle Epoque," three decades of gracious living in Paris that preceded the outbreak of war in 1914 - this time of prosperity, glamour, and literary and musical pleasures shines even brighter by comparison to the turbulent century that followed it. The Belle Epoque was conservative in spirit, and its musical center was the Paris Conservatory. The great flute teacher at the Conservatory was Paul Taffanel (1844-1908), who founded the French school of flute playing that remains influential today. The music on this recording is imbued with the spirit of this epoch, from Gabriel Fauré's early melodic masterpiece Morceau de concours to Georges Hüe's Fantaisie with its Spanish and Arabic overtones. In the Romantic tradition of virtuoso recitalists, Marina Piccinini contributed fantastic variations and flourishes of her own to Borne's Fantasy on Bizet's Carmen.

Following the acclaimed release of her first recording for Claves, Flute Recital "Belle Epoque", virtuoso Marina Piccinini now presents a recording featuring brilliant works from the 20th century for flute and piano with an accent on Eastern Europe.

While the flute may have evoked ancient Greece or a brilliant salon for the French school of composers, in Eastern Europe it has always been a folk instrument, and that aspect predominates in this recording. It is true that the works titled Sonata by Taktakishvili and Martinu are models of neoclassical sonata form, but under their traditional forms and balanced themes beats the heart of a culture that is rooted well east of Vienna.

Paul Arma's setting of Béla Bartók's 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs captures all the moods of his teacher's collection ranging from tender to whimsical to lively to nostalgic. Erno von Dohnányi's Aria for Flute and Piano is redolent with the sensuous sounds of Borodin or Rachmaninov, an amorous nocturne. And Erwin Schulhoff's Sonata for Flute and Piano, composed in 1927, combines the insouciant air of the Parisian "Six" with a genuine affection for Czech tunes and rhythms.