It's been a while since the stardom days of
Michala Petri
(although she's very much still at it), and the major
Decca
label seems to have gone all in on the young recorder player
Lucie Horsch
, with high-fashion presentation and a budget that allowed the involvement of a wide variety of collaborators here. The latter is key in this collection of music with folk roots, which is the sense of the
Origins
title.
Horsch
seems to try to outdo herself in presenting a wide range of music. Even if
Charlie Parker
's
Ornithology
is not folk music, it reveals a certainly hitherto unsuspected suitability to the recorder.
Astor Piazzolla
, represented several times here, was not a folk musician either, and the recorder doesn't comfortably reproduce the bandoneon's spiky, percussive arpeggios, but it doesn't matter much.
continues to delve into new territory with folkish concert music staples by
Bartok
,
Stravinsky
, and
Peter Maxwell Davies
, limpid traditional tunes like
Simple Gifts
and the
Londonderry Air ("Danny Boy")
, Latin American and Chinese pieces, and even two collaborations featuring kora player
Bao Sissoko
, which are lovely. Even if not everything works, one has the feeling of having traversed a lot of territory, and this is all to the good.
deploys nine separate recorders, including two voice flutes, and
captures their sound very well at the Netherlands Radio Center in Hilversum. Recorder buffs will be excited about this bold, career-developing release from
. ~ James Manheim