Flöte Aktuell
Natalie Schwaabe shares joint responsibility for the fact that the piccolo has been able to conquer its position on the international chamber music scene. This small, virtuoso instrument, which is in no way inferior to its bigger sister, finds most of its raison d’être in orchestral works. It is Natalie Schwaabe’s versatility as an orchestral musician, a chamber music player and as a pedagogue that sets the scene for the piccolo. In addition to her captivating skill, ably demonstrated on this small woodwind instrument, and her position as an teacher at the ‘Hochschule für Musik und Theater’ in Munich, Natalie Schwaabe took on the challenge of scouring the literature for piccolo chamber music and commissioning further works for the instrument.
Six of the seven works gathered here are masterfully and skilfully accompanied by Jan Philip Schulze on the piano. They all stem from composers born between 1927 and 1979. And all of them try to shine the best light on their perspective of this instrument: dance-like, accomplished, light and nimble, “above” it all, lively, humorous, tomboyish, versatile, sensitive and extreme – an instrument with significant scope for more potential. Extremely interesting is also the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a musical story for flute/piccolo and narrator, the character of whose oral text is enhanced with short solo passages by the flute. The fact that Natalie Schwaabe, and also Jan Philip Schulze, have mastered all aspects of their craft and at all levels, is already clear after only a few bars of the nearly 70-minute long album. The piccolo can feel proud and honoured to be the focus of such artists.
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