flute concert reviews | the duo reviews
flute concert reviews
“...Right from the start we are seduced by the large enveloping, even dominating sonority of his flute: in the initial Allegretto W.B. plays this movement with such eloquence and a Mendelssohnian nostalgia that is omnipresent...breathtaking phrasing, a sublimely elegant legato, as well as an acute sense of colour...the hyper-virtuosity of the soloist leads an orchestra that is completely galvanized...”
“...And then there was the magic of Wissam Boustany’s flute…Few will forget Boustany’s highly physical rendering of Bartόk’s Hungarian Peasant Suite, moving gradually from lyrical yearning to increasingly exuberant dance. His flute version of Bach’s Erbarme Dich (from St Matthew Passion) was highly moving, as indeed was Boustany’s own composition Broken Child: a lament with spare and steely piano beneath…”
“… A fantastic flutist…Then Wissam Boustany entered the stage…Boustany made a deep impression. His playing was virtuosic with beautiful tone, superb technique and deeply musical. Khatchaturian’s music is influenced by the East and West, is exotic and a little mystical, especially in the middle movement, and was intoxicating for an audience so excited that the applause was reverberating already after the first movement…”
“...We miss the absences of that songbird...At every instance I question my pen as to what it can tell of that songbird that it hadn’t told before......a sublime musicality...that brings us back to W.B.’s flute playing, youthful and pure. The passing time has not obscured its transparency...”
“... a marvellous recital...very special; recommended unreservedly...”
the duo reviews
“...gloriously played... turned out with great beauty, charm, and wit by Boustany and Szram... uplifted by the phenomenal playing of Boustany and Szram... extraordinarily moving music and masterful flute playing...”
“....Boustany and Szram play it [Hindemith] passionately with the air of desperation that must have pervaded Hindemith’s mind at that time... [they] take us to a lovely meadow and regale us with exquisite arpeggios in the prelude... Szram plays a harmonically rich tour de force that allows Boustany to interpret his virtuosic line with the utmost clarity... flutist and pianist play with a tapestry of brilliant musical colors.”
“...The playing by both Boustany and Szram is sensitive, lyric, and emotionally charged...”
“...Il y a comme un cordon ombilical qui relie ces deux artistes. Quand l’un souffle, l’autre caresse ou tape les touches de son piano...toutes les musiques contenues dans le souffle de Wissam Boustany seront en parfait accord. Il suffisait de fermer les yeux rien qu’un instant pour les étendre résonner en nous...”
“...The audience was immediately struck by ‘the sound’ this duo has and their ensemble playing. Each note was taken care of; each phrase soared whether lyrical or grotesque... Techniques and agility don’t make a piece, but when combined with an innate musicality and an extraordinary concept of sound, the effect was breathtaking as well as profound as Boustany pleasured us with his composition. It was a beautiful end to a mind-blowing concert... It was clear that Boustany and Szram have exceptional interplay and communication - slight lift of the flute, a tilt of the head – something possible when they are no longer dependent on the written notes and page turns. Their strong personalities complement each other to create a deep bond that communicates out to us as their audience and encompassed us in this experience – the boundary between the stage and the audience became invisible as we were drawn into and made a part of the shared energy in their performance...”
“...intense, amazing, ultra-communicative, shake-me-to-the-core style. He and his phenomenal piano collaborator, Aleksander Szram, both played the entire recital by memory...The audience yelled on their feet afterwards, and no wonder, after the passion, depth, and pure powerful presence that Wissam puts into his music like no other flutist I’ve ever seen...”
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