Sharon Bezaly - Khachaturian & Rautavaara: Flute Concertos (2016)

In 1968 the great French flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal asked Khachaturian for a flute concerto. It seems that the composer, realizing that his Violin Concerto might prove suitable, simply suggested to Rampal that he should transcribe the Violin Con - certo, giving him carte blanche when it came to making any necessary changes. The violin part was completely reworked by Rampal, so that the end result was not just playable but also sounded idiomatic on the flute. He thus chose to favour the spirit rather than the letter of the score at certain places. Rampal also suggested an en tirely 4 new cadenza in the first movement. The orchestral part, on the other hand, remained unaltered.


Rautavaara's Flute Concerto is the result of a commission from Gunilla and Robert von Bahr, and was composed in 1973. Gunilla von Bahr gave the first performance in Stockholm on 4th May 1974, with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra con ducted by Stig Westerberg. The sub-title ‘Dances with the Winds’ was not added until 1996. The piece could be described as one of the most comprehensive ever written for the flute: in its original version, Rautavaara requires four different flutes to be used – piccolo, ‘normal’ flute, alto flute and bass flute. After completing the concerto, the composer revised the work in order to satisfy requests from flautists eager to perform it. In the resulting, more ‘practical’ version the sections involving the bass flute (in the first and the final movements) were rewritten for alto flute. The work has four separate movements. Despite the rapid development of nonstandard techniques since the 1950s, Rautavaara favours a traditional method of playing, avoiding ‘effects’ with the exception of flutter-tonguing (allowing the tip of the tongue to flutter rapidly, in order to produce an effect similar to tremolo). The writ ing is melodic, and the flute performs numerous arabesques that sound like descen dants of Debussy’s Syrinx and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. The har - monic language is modal – quasi Impressionist – and at times recalls Olivier Mes - siaen. The concerto also embraces the so-called ‘perturbation’ technique that has been one of the characteristics of Rautavaara’s musical style since the 1970s: meditative thematic material is disturbed by dissonant jolts.