Notes and Editorial Reviews
DEEP IN MY SOUL
•
Lisa Friend (fl); Mark Kinkaid (pn); Rodney Friend (vn
1
); Martin Radford (vc
2
)
•
SIGNUM 199 (51:21)
SHOSTAKOVICH
1
Duo-Praludium.
FRIEND
Deep in My Soul.
SAINT-SAËNS
Air de Ballet d’Ascanio.
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1,2
MORRICONE
Medley.
RACHMANINOFF
Vocalise.
GERMAN
Romance.
SCHUMANN
3 Romances,
op. 94.
SAINT-SAËNS
Romances,
op. 37.
BERNSTEIN
West Side Story:
Somewhere.
I was sorely tempted to dismiss this album without hearing it; looking at the contents it was obvious that this is an easy-listening sort of recording, maybe good background or even dinner music. I have little use for this generally speaking, and already have a few such recordings in my collection. And after hearing it, I really did not feel like I knew what this flutist could do. To get a feeling for that I had to go out to the Web and seek out some videos, which I found, and fortunately the fare (Mozart flute quartets) was a little livelier and more challenging than most of this. DISCLAIMER: The music on this program is designed to relax you, to provide you with about 50 minutes of beautiful melodies—which is what young British flutist Lisa Friend says she likes—and will not provide any sort of variance in your listening. It is what it is, and makes no apologies.
That said, we all need discs like this for those special occasions, or even for relaxing, and this one will certainly fit the bill. The music is not frumpy, either—there is some real stuff here. I’ll just mention a few. I am not sure what I think of Friend’s own composition
Deep in My Soul—
it does have a catchy melody, but reminds me too much of music that might have accompanied a 1970s boy-meets-girl film. But the fact that you remember it must count for something—how many great composers have written totally
unmemorable
melodies? So I’ll give points for effort here. Friend is a great fan of Ennio Morricone, and her arrangement of four of his melodies for flute, violin, cello, and piano (
La Califfa, Love Affair, Once Upon a Time in America, Cinema Paradiso
) is a thorough delight. I was especially happy to hear
Once Upon a Time in America
, one of his most enthralling and bittersweet efforts that also happens to emphasize the flute, absolutely charming. Schumann’s Romances, originally for oboe but played by virtually anyone with an instrument these days, also sound quite lovely in Friend’s hands.
She has a big, fatty flute sound that makes no pretenses to anything but modern playing at its most affective, and Signum provides her with excellent sonics. I am actually a little surprised that the label agreed to this recording—it’s not the type of thing that you see very often, apart from vanity productions. But I would very much like to hear her outside of all of the somnambulism, and see if she has the stuff to really compete on the world stage. This is an appetizer, and it is tasty; next time, Lisa, let’s really see what you can do.
FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter
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Works on This Recording
1.
Duets (3) for 2 Violins and Piano: no 1, Prelude "Molto moderato" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
Rodney Friend (Violin),
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USSR
2.
Deep in My Soul by Lisa Friend
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
3.
Adagio and Variations on themes from "Ascanio" by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1890; France
4.
Medley by Ennio Morricone
Performer:
Mark Kinkaid (Piano),
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Martin Radford (Cello)
Notes: Includes selections from La Califfa, Love Affair, Once Upon a Time in America, and Cinema Paradiso.
5.
Songs (14), Op. 34: no 14, Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1912-1915; Russia
6.
Romance for Clarinet and Piano by Edward German
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1892; England
7.
Romances (3) for Oboe and Piano, Op. 94 by Robert Schumann
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1849; Germany
8.
Romance for Flute and Orchestra in D flat major, Op. 37 by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871; France
9.
West Side Story: Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein
Performer:
Lisa Friend (Flute),
Mark Kinkaid (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
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