LAUREL ANN MAURER, FLUTE, Dumke Recital Hall, University of Utah, Friday.
It's been a number of years now since flutist Laurel Ann Maurer gave a recital in Salt Lake City. But thanks to the Utah Flute Association, that absence has finally been addressed.
Last Friday, Maurer played her first local recital since 1998. Performing what was, for her, a new program, she filled the small confines of Dumke Recital Hall with her exquisite artistry.
In her playing, Maurer combines extraordinary technique with magnificent musicianship. And no matter what she plays — whether it's music from the 18th or the 21st centuries, whether it's delicately lyrical or fiendishly virtuosic — she performs it with a self-assuredness that impresses the listener with its eloquence. Maurer is a veritable poet of her instrument.
At Friday's recital, she was partnered with pianist John Jensen, whom local audiences will know through his long association with the Park City and Salt Lake City Music Festival.
Jensen's mastery of his instrument is equal to Maurer's. He possesses superb technique and impressive musicality, and together they create musical magic.
The recital opened with a delightful Rondo by Mozart. Maurer captured the delicate phrasings and graceful air of this brief piece with her elegant playing, and Jensen tried to emulate his partner's polished style, although his playing was occasionally a bit on the heavy side.
Philippe Gaubert's "Fantasy" followed. Gaubert, one of the numerous French flutist/composers of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, wrote some wondrously lyrical yet demanding pieces for his instrument. The "Fantasy" is a fine example of his writing — sensuously impressionistic in its melodies and harmonies, yet also virtuosic. Maurer gave a remarkably nuanced and subtle interpretation that captured the billowy dreaminess of the opening and the dexterous dance like character of the close.
Among Bohuslav Martinu's countless chamber works, his Flute Sonata is, without question, one of his undisputed masterpieces from his later years. The piece sparkles with French lyricism in the outer movements and with a dark wistfulness in the adagio middle movement. Maurer and Jensen brought out the work's intense expressiveness with their luminous playing that didn't miss any of the score's subtleties.
Katherine Hoover's "Medieval Suite," from 1986, attempts to evoke the music of the Middle Ages, but using the broader parameters of 20th century stylistic elements. While the harmonic language of the work is fairly conventional, Hoover does manage to create a score that is inventive and evocative. Maurer gave a fabulously dynamic reading, and her sensitive interpretation brought the work to life.
There were also two pieces for solo flute on the program. In the first, Eugene Bozza's "Image," Maurer captured the piece's vibrancy with her virtuosic playing. In the other, Meyer Kupferman's heartfelt and emotional "Strata," Maurer's thoughtful playing underscored the piece's intense expressiveness.
There was also an encore, Gabriel Faure's captivating "Morceau de Concourse."
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com