Kuhlau: Grandes Sonates, Op. 71 & 83 Mika Putterman & Erin Helyard

• Friedrich Kuhlau (1786 - 1832): Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71:
• 1 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71: I. Allegro molto con energia 14:39
• 2 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71: II. Scherzo, Presto, Trio 06:53
• 3 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71: III. Andante sostenuto 03:30
• 4 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71: IV. Rondo Allegro 08:36
• Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1:
• 5 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: I. Allegro con fuoco 10:20
• 6 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: II. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Introduzione – Andantino quasi Allegretto 02:25
• 7 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: III. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation I 00:37
• 8 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: IV. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation II 00:36
• 9 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: V. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation III 00:35
• 10 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: VI. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation IV 00:33
• 11 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: VII. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation V 00:54
• 12 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: VIII. Variations sur un ancien air suédois - Variation VI 03:23
• 13 Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato, Op. 83, No. 1: IX. Allegro 12:33
• Total Runtime 01:05:34

Info for Kuhlau: Grandes Sonates, Op. 71 & 83

Certainly, [Friedrich Kuhlau’s] flute music is idiomatically written and beautifully crafted. Brahms was so impressed with the sonatas that he wrote to Clara Schumann in 1854 expressing a wish to learn the flute solely so he could perform Kuhlau’s works along with Clara at the piano.

Kuhlau’s “Grand Sonata for Fortepiano and Flute Obbligato” from 1825 (Op. 71) was dedicated to Joseph Sellner, professor of oboe at the Vienna Conservatorium from 1821 to 1838. A large-scale and luxuriously expansive work, this four-movement sonata in E minor shows the influence of Weber, Clementi, Dussek, and Cramer. By turns lyrical and virtuosic, the first movement divides its thematic material evenly between piano and flute before featuring the fl ute more as a solo instrument in the two middle movements. The final rondo’s rather pompous and martial flavour is attenuated at the close by a turn to the major, with appealing ornamental filigree.

The G major sonata from Op. 83 was published in 1827 and is the first of a set of three “grandes sonates.” The first sonata features outer movements with tight-knit and well-crafted formal structures reminiscent of Hummel; the slow movement is a set of variations on the melancholic Swedish folksong “Sorgens Magt” (Sad Girl).

In our approach to Kuhlau’s music, Mika and I were also inspired by scholars such as Bruce Haynes and Clive Brown, who underline the disparity between current Romantic performance that claims allegiance to historical performance practices and the actual evidence itself. Both Mika and I played from the original separate parts that were published at the time (no full score existed), and we both found that this encouraged us, occasionally, to treat each line as being expressively dislocated from the other. Lauded and condemned alike by commentators and performers at the time, extreme tempo modification was without a doubt a major characteristic of performance styles in the late 1820s and 1830s. In 1833 one writer observed that “ritardando and accelerando alternate all the time. This manner has already become so fixed in the minds of the musical public that they firmly believe a diminuendo must be slowed down and a crescendo speeded up; a tender phrase (e.g. in an allegro) will be performed more slowly, a powerful one faster.” Mika and I have tried to reproduce the nuanced advice relating to tempo modification given by Crelle (1823), Czerny (1839–1846), and many other sources. We understand that the results might be somewhat controversial; nonetheless, we present them here as the fruits of a committed and confident experimentation in Romantic-period performance practice.

Mika Putterman, flute
Erin Helyard, piano

Mika Putterman
Known for her beautiful sound and expressive playing, flautist Mika Putterman shares her passion for research and historical knowledge with audiences. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, Mika was accepted at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. In 2001, she received her Masters from the Koninklijk Conservatorium of Brussels where she studied with Barthold Kuijken and Marc Hantaï.

Mika is the artistic director of Autour de la flûte (nominated for an Opus Prize for “best concert of the year”) and is a founding member of La Petite Harmonie, a romantic wind ensemble. Mika has performed with Notturna, Arion, Tafelmusik, Les Idées Heureuse, Caprice, Il Fondamento, among others. She has been invited to play in various international festivals such as Montreal Baroque, Lamèque International Festival, the Montreal Bach Festival, the Festival Bach de St. Malo, and the Nantes musique festival. She has had the privilege of working with such conductors as Kent Nagano, Bernard Labadie, Daniel Cuiller, Paul Dombrecht, Manfredo Kramer, Barthold Kuijken, Jeanne Lamon, Lorenzo Coppola, Hervé Niquet, Jaap Ter Linden and Dominique Visse.

Mika has recorded many concerts for both the CBC and Radio-Canada, and has recorded as a soloist with labels early-music.com (nominated for a Juno Award) and ATMA Classique. Mika recorded a world première of Beethoven’s folk songs with the Belgian label Outhere, on romantic flute, along with the fortepianist Erin Helyard.

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