Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Orchestre de chambre de Paris, François Leleux

Hersant: Dreamtime
Saint-Saëns: Romance in D flat major, Op. 37
Saint-Saëns: Odelette in D major, Op. 162
Chaminade: Concertino for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 107
Poulenc: Flute Sonata, Op. 164
Fauré: Fantaisie for flute & orchestra (or flute & piano), Op. 79
Saint-Saëns: Tarantelle in A minor for flute, clarinet & piano / orchestra Op. 6
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E flat for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon & Orchestra, K297b
Mozart: Flute & Harp Concerto in C major, K299

This double album, Mozart & Flute in Paris, brings together nine captivating works, all with their origins in Paris, which feature a solo flute. Emmanuel Pahud is joined by his colleagues from ‘wind supergroup’ Les Vents Français – oboist François Leleux (here also conducting the Orchestre de chambre de Paris), clarinettist Paul Meyer, bassoonist Gilbert Audin and horn-player Radovan Vlatković – and by Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts. “The pieces on this album represent different golden ages of the flute,” says Pahud. The earliest, dating from 1778 are two concertante works that Mozart wrote while visiting Paris. The newest, premiered in 2014 by Pahud and the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, is Dreamtime by Philippe Hersant. The intervening period is represented by pieces by Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Chaminade and Poulenc, composers whose music embodies France’s special relationship with the flute.