SALVATORE SCIARRINO (b.1947): Fauno che fischia a un merlo for Flute and Harp (Ernestine Stoop [harp]), D'une faune for Flute and Piano (Tomoko Mukayiama [piano]), La perfezione di un spirito sottile for Flute, Voice and Percussion (Françoise Kubler [soprano], Christian Dierstein [bells]), Toccata e fuga in re minore BWV 565, J.S. Bach for Flute Solo.

Description: The flute is put to a vast range of expressive uses here, in typical Sciarrino fashion. One expects, and gets, the subtle, breathy sounds, microtones, overtones, that typically make up Sciarrino's unique sound world. But D'un faune suggests a more naturalistic depiction of Debussy's and Mallarmé's mythical creature, beginning with coarse animal grunting and incorporating along the way uncannily realized sounds of the natural world fading in and out of resonant echoes of pianistic impressionism. La perfezione, dedicated to Nono, is the most extended work here, beginning with whispered flute sounds, and gradually bringing in the other performers in a kind of musical drama; if performed outdoors the bells are to be played by the wind, attached to kites; this recording approximates the random introduction of their sounds over the flute's closing episode, in the concert hall. The transcription of Bach's d-minor Toccata and Fugue retains the musical material of the original, reducing it to its essence and making something very intimate of a piece too often associated with Victorian bombast, a remarkably effective watercolor miniature of a scene one thought one knew in saturated Technicolor. Mario Caroli (flute).