Benda, Stamitz & Rosetti: Concertos for Flute and Orchestra

Music for wind instruments has always done well on French soil. The French are by far the best makers of wind instruments and the French school of interpretation has a privileged position in the world. The name of the French flute virtuoso Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000) is a household word and we are fortunate that several of his recordings, which are today in many ways unsurpassable, are found in the depths of the Supraphon archive. Modern techniques have helped remedy some of the sonic problems of these recordings from the 1950s, which would otherwise place them at a disadvantage. It is with pleasure that we also present the performance of his partner in the Benda sonata, the noted Czech harpsichordist Viktorie Švihlíková (1915).