Michelle Batty Stanley & Margaret McDonald - Nouvelle vie: A Rediscovery of French Flute Music (2018) [Hi-Res]

On her new album NOUVELLE VIE, flutist Michelle Batty Stanley and pianist Margaret McDonald breathe new life into classic 19th and 20th century compositions. The duo dream up new interpretations of both familiar French favorites as well as works by lesser known composers.

The compositions Stanley and McDonald chose for NOUVELLE VIE were written either for the Paris Conservatory Flute Studio as end of the year projects or as small concert pieces. The album is reminiscent of the opera-like qualities of that specific era of music, a time when the flute became the star instrument.

The duo create a dynamic interplay with melody lines that stretch through time back to that fruitful era of flute music. Rene De Boisdeffre’s Canzonetta. Op 39. No. 8 is light and airy, while the grandiose Romance. Op 33 by Emile Bernard fills every possible air pocket with sound. Stanley and McDonald create music so full, you might imagine you were listening to an orchestra.

Elegance and grace flow from this album, provoking a sense of waking. You hear the dawn rise in NOUVELLE VIE, a dawn presumably once felt by those 19th and 20th century composers who changed the history of flute music forever.