Very little is as cute as 10 Themes and Variations Op 107.
These diminutive compositions feature piano and flute frolicking together like deer and antelope, asking and answering in double-time fashion…or meandering like a meadow brook…with themes ranging from Scottish to Russian to Tyrolian.
I love it.
Performers today are:
Jean-Pierre Rampal flute
Christian Larde, Alain Marion flute (tracks 11-13)
Robert Veyron-Lacrois piano
According to the Wikipedia entry listing all of Beethoven’s compositions, these 10 variations were composed in 1820. Beethoven was 50 and, unbeknownst to him, just seven years away from his untimely death.
The next set of compositions – Trio in G – consists of three movements for three flutes.
They are lovely.
Betthoven has a delicate touch with these instruments.
Finally, this CD features Sonata in B Flat for flute and piano.
If I had to pick a “least” favorite on this CD, it would be Sonata in B Flat. But “least” is very relative. I prefer this to anything I heard from Haydn a couple of months ago.