American Vistas Review

Corigliano: Irish Folksong Settings; Amlin: Fessenden Songs; Gaburo: Cantilena 1; Blake: 3 Moore Songs; Cowell: I Heard in the Night; Shapey: Lullaby; Gendel: Patterns; Stallmann: Lumina II; Bosch: In the Meantime; Copland: As it Fell Upon a Day.

Mimmi Fulmer, s: Leone Buyse, fl
Albany 1097 - 57 minutes

This is superb. There are ten American pieces here, from 1924 (Copland) to 2005 (Bosch). You can skip around and listen as you wish, but this works as a complete recital - they clearly had flow of program in mind. The only work I knew was the Copland, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the rest. There are some that I did not know existed, especially the Cowell and Shapey. Flute and soprano is such a natural combination, I am puzzled why more composers in the last century have not explored it. As a flutist, I suppose I can comfortably blame the singers - I can count on one hand the sopranos I know that have the skills to sing new music. It takes a keen ear, finely honed rhythmic skills, and great control. To be fair, flutists often lack these attributes, too. Mimmi Fulmer has all this plus natural grace and a voice that may not be huge, but is always rich and concentrated.

In past reviews, I have heaped praise on Leone Buyse. I stand by my statement that "simply put, this is how the flute should sound". Michael Webster, clarinet, Martin Amlin, piano, and Scott Gendel, piano, also make appearances with these fabulous musicians.

Our music schools in this country are overrun with flute and voice students. (I suppose I should be careful - without them I would not have a comfortable teaching gig!) They should all own this recording, and when it comes time to program a degree recital, make room for one or two of these fabulous works instead of the usual fare. Anyone who enjoys great American music should find this, too.

Chaffee
American Record Guide, September-October 2009