Kathryn Thomas Press Reviews
Musical Opinion November 2001
Flautist Kathryn Thomas and pianist Richard Shaw, riding on the success of
the recent recording of Philippe Gaubert works for Flute and Piano, showcased
a rich collection of 20th century French music at the Purcell Room on 21
June.
The subtle key changes and gentle florid passages in Gaubert's 1933 Third
Sonata allowed Thomas's rich velvety tone to evoke a French rural landscape,
while sharp contrasts and the darker colours of the flute's middle register
were captured beautifully in Albert Roussel's Joueurs de flute. A more
exacting piece was Boulez's Sonatine which tested both performers' resolve.
With moments of agitation, impulsiveness and brooding. Thomas's playing
excited the senses and obviously challenged Shaw, so that their co-ordination
was stunning.
Thomas's incredible poise produced the most hypnotic and serene playing of the
evening with Karl Lenski's Bilitis arrangement, based on Debussy's piano duet
Six Epigraphes antiques. Alexandre Delgado's 1992 The Panic Flirt is a richly
coloured piece relying on some tricky finger work, but Kathryn Thomas was in
total control with her superlative technique. Milhaud's Sonatine was
wonderfully conveyed by the duo, while Jolivet's much more disturbing work,
Chants de Linos, ended an impressive recital of rare insight.
David Alker
Musician 2001
If you love flute music this CD is tailor-made for you. ...very fine
performances... Kathryn's full lyrical playing is wonderfully matched by
Richard's sensitive and expressive accompaniment... All in all, a beautiful
CD
Graham Williams
Highlights from Pan (Sept 2001)
Kathryn Thomas at the Purcell Room
Kathryn Thomas chose a beautiful French programme for her Purcell Room
concert.... The programme was meticulously chosen in terms of variety,
contrast, period and ambience. The combination of well0known with those
lesser known maintained the attention of the audience throughout, as did her
use of vibrato, tone and techniques....
The performers opened the concert affirmatively with a beautiful
interpretation of Gaubert's famous sonata. Her light and nimble tone fitted
the nostalgic mood of the piece. Her playing of the eloquent second
movement conveyed the rich and melancholy poetry and her introvert manner of
presentation, in this piece, added to the ambience.....
She maintained good control throughout the tessitura of this piece
(Roussel), and flawlessly performed several passages that are renowned for
their problems of intonation...Kathryn's control of her instrument were
pervading....
All were in awe of Kathryn's ability (In Boulez's technically challenging
Sonatine) to render this contemporary piece accessible to the audience.
Kathryn managed to imbue the piece with an individualised charm which
emerged clearly despite the challenges....
The flautist's excellent articulation, nimble fingers and thorough grasp of
the two contrasting (in Delgado's Panic Flirt) created much excitement in
the audience who were particularly impressed and astounded by the new
techniques of tutting, singing while playing, tapping and note-bending.....
The flautist's silky tone and relaxed playing of Milhaud's beautiful
Sonatine was refreshing... The serious presentation added to the mood, as
did her full vibrato.....
Kathryn ended with an encore of Gaubert's Orientale...Kathryn's sensitivity
of playing once again demonstrated her natural affinity with the French
Romantic repertory.
Alexandra Buckle
Musical Opinion June 2001
Philippe Gaubert - Pieces Romantiques
Deux-Elles - DXL 923
This is a most beautiful record. Philippe Gaubert was one of the great players
in the French Flute School of the early 20th century, as well as a noted
composer and conductor, and this admirable CD collects much of his extensive
output for Flute and Piano alongside several shorter pieces with an additional
Cello. In style, Gaubert's music is not difficult to describe: a civilised
amalgam, perhaps, of late Fauré with a dash of early Poulenc, but it is so
magnificently written as to draw one back again and again. I found myself
enthralled by these works, and not merely the larger three Sonatas, composed in
1917, 1924 and 1933, for the shorter pieces are also enchanting.
The performances appear to be superb. Both Kathryn Thomas and her gifted
partner are really fine players, and the recordings are admirably natural and
most musically balanced. The Programme notes are by the pianists and are a
model of what they should be, except that nowhere on the disc are Gaubert's
dates given. For the record they are 1879 to 1941.
Robert Matthew-Walker
From Seen and Heard
Kathryn Thomas & Richard Shaw: French Flute Recital, PR, 21 June, 2001 (MB)
"Kathryn Thomas has now established herself as one of Britain's foremost young
flautists - and this recital was an ideal showcase for her talents as chanteuse
and virtuoso. The beauty of tone and phrasing - clearly evident in her recent
recording of Gaubert flute pieces - was as impeccable as ever. Notes were
meticulously placed (even in the wonderful Boulez Sonatine) and the Debussy
Bilitis showed Ms Thomas' ability to spin a web of impressionistic textures that
almost hypnotised her audience. It was quite audacious in the purity of its
delivery.
If both the Roussel and Gaubert were perhaps a little reserved, her Boulez was a
stunning achievement. The rapidity of the dynamics were carved from ice so
streamlined was the phrasing - yet there was plenty of room for wit and
elegance. If the slow movement of the Gaubert had shown her breath control to
appear less than seamless (at times it sounded intrusive) it was a performance
which almost rescued the work from obscurity. Alexandre Delgado's The Panic
Flirt was rumbustiously played, the improvisatory whispers and chants more
refined than I have previously heard in this work."
"A wonderfully varied concert of twentieth century works which demonstrated
the wide development of music in this century... Thomas' secure finger
technique and French tone were very much at home here [Gaubert sonata
no1]... An exciting rendition of the Prokofiev Sonata ... the performance
held the audience spellbound. Samuel Barber's Canzone allowed the listeners
to enjoy Thomas' smooth legatos and warm sound".
Ann Cherry Pan Magazine - December 2000
"This music is saturated in the elegance and lyrical grace that we recognise
as French. Long, sensuous lines are gratefully received by the ears; the
heart responds to the deeper vein of expression that French composers are so
adept at side-stepping to - an emotional sleight of hand which transforms
innocence to something darker, more experienced. A relaxed urbanity informs
Gaubert's music, as charming as a spring day, but there will an aside, a
confidence shared, en route.
As for Gaubert himself: he was born in 1879, died in 1941, was a highly
regarded flautist (his writing for the instrument is assured and idiomatic)
and developed parallel careers as a composer and conductor; as the latter he
made a number of recordings including the Second Daphnis Suite with Walter
Straram's Orchestra in 1930 and Saint-Saens's Second Concerto with
Rubinstein in 1939.
The recording is well balanced and truthful ...and the performances are
sympathetic and shapely ... the music is worthy of advocacy and it's good to
find these skilled musicians exploring the byways of their repertoire.
Flute-fanciers and francophiles needn't hesitate."
Colin Anderson
Review from Amazon.co.uk
"Like many French composers of his generation, Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941)
combined a successful career as composer/conductor of opera and ballet, with
a regular output of instrumental pieces. Written between 1917 and 1933, all
three flute sonatas abound in imaginative touches that enhance their
technical fluency and three movement format. The first sonata, dedicated to
the memory of his teacher Paul Taffanel, is the most classical in form and
emotional range; a restraint offset by the frequent virtuosity of its
successor, written for the legandary Marcel Moyse, and the rhapsodic vein of
the third sonata, composed for Jean Boulze. While there's all the expected
charm and lightness you associate with this medium, there's a nostalgia,
even melancholy that are Gaubert's alone. It's these qualities that Kathryn
Thomas brings out in her performances, recorded with a forward balance that
rightly emphasises emotion as much as elegance. Richard Shaw is a thoughtful
accompanist, and cellist Phoebe Scott joins in for the final two pieces,
including the Pièce Romantique - ravishing music alone worth the price of the
disc."
Richard Whitehouse
"engagingly silky playing, serene yet commanding"
Norman Lebrecht
"Beautifully played, and the music quite charming"
Lionel Carley, author of the acclaimed 'Frederick Delius: Music, Art and Literature',
and advisor to the Delius Trust.
"Kathryn Thomas, with beautifully focussed tone, leads fluent, assured
performances."
Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine February 2001
"A wonderfully varied concert of twentieth century works which demonstrated
the wide development of music in this century... Thomas' secure finger
technique and French tone were very much at home here [Gaubert sonata no1]...
An exciting rendition of the Prokofiev Sonata ... the performance held the
audience spellbound. Samuel Barber's Canzone allowed the listeners to enjoy
Thomas' smooth legatos and warm sound".
Ann Cherry, Pan, December 2000.
"Philippe Gaubert was a much admired conductor in his day and a virtuoso
flautist. This anthology shows his refinement of craftsmanship and freshness
of inspiration ... full of Gallic charm which is well conveyed in these
accomplished performances and well recorded."
Robert Layton, Classic FM Magazine January 2001
"This is undoubtedly a beautiful disc - and a beautifully played one"
Marc Bridle, Classical Music on the Web
"Vibrant playing of attractive repertoire"
Richard Whitehouse (Gramophone critic)
"She gave just the right other-worldly, nostalgic quality to her solo. ..... She
floated her broad melody over the chattering accompaniment magnificently."
Pan March 1999
"A fine wind player"
BBC Radio 3
"One of the most highly regarded of our younger flute playing members"
Musician
"Exquisite shaping of phrase"
Newbury Weekly News
"It is a pleasure to work with Kathryn Thomas"
Minna Keal
"Kathryn Thomas .. presents an attractive programme"
Time Out
"The most perfect technique ... 55 minutes of sheer delight
Newbury Times
"A combination of technical skill and musical affinity"
Pan
"A fine, committed performance..... very virtuosic and exciting"
Elena Firsova
"She had her moment in the lime light playing Ibert's Aria for Flute and Piano which
she did with effortless smoothness and captivating charm."
Alan Cooper, Aberdeen Press and Journal November 2000
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