REVIEWS
MOZART CD : Concerto for flute and harp
Valérie Milot, harp/Claire Marchand, flute
"The two musicians embodying the lightness of Mozart..."
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Francis Reddy - Les Saisons de Francis, Radio-Canada
"This exquisite concerto was added to Mozart's catalogue, and is recorded here alongside incomparable flutist Claire Marchand"
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Amazon
This is how MOZART added to its catalog a concerto of great beauty, recorded here with the incomparable flautist Claire Marchand.
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Info-Culture
"To close the disc, a concerto for harp and flute by Mozart. The marriage is perfect. Claire Marchand has a clear and pure sound. Her vibrato is not too imposing. The ensemble formed by the orchestra, the harp and the flute is at its best."
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La Scena Musicale - Marc-Olivier Laramée
"I am delighted that Valérie Milot is joining forces with Canadian flautist Claire Marchand, a musician who has made her mark in contemporary music. Her colorful and supple sound has just the flexibility of Mozart and ideally matches the luminosity and effervescence of the sounds of Valérie and the Violins. And it's fascinating, because you listen from beginning to end, this CD seems to follow a natural progression from something small and precious, through the most expressive moments of the opera, to what we might consider the music of the gods."
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Alyson Young, Harp Column
"The harpist offers, in the company of flautist Claire Marchand, a most delicate and supple interpretation. Mozart's Concerto in C major for harp and flute concludes the program on a note of natural, exquisite and charming simplicity, like a breath of youth and tenderness."
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Richard Boivert, The Sun
"This is probably the great Quebec record of the year. Very useful, it is intended – which is not always the case – to effect, the coupling of the harp concerto by Boieldieu, the most beautiful repertoire, with the Opus 4 No. 6 by Handel and the Concerto for flute and harp K. 299 by Mozart (excellent Claire Marchand) gives us a perfect program."
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Christophe Huss, Le Devoir
"The version of Mozart's Conceto for flute and harp with Valérie Milot and Claire Marchand is superb!"
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Mario F. Paquet – Host at Radio-Canada Espace Musique
"…a concerto of great beauty, recorded here with the incomparable flautist Claire Marchand."
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Info-Culture
Mooncrest – Crête de lune/ Pierrot Lunaire, Arnold Schönberg
"One of the best interpretations of the work on CD. The German soprano (Ingrid Schmithüsen) concentrates on the precise execution of pitches and rhythms, using a wide palette of vocal colors using glisandi, vibratos and flat tones. The occasional quintet of flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano plays in varied compositions with great expressiveness."
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Review Opera Netherlands
"The performers (…) all proved to be first-rate technicians and musicians entirely inhabited by their subject."
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Claude Gingras - La Presse
Year 9 of the OPUS PRIZES
"...Les Yeux dans les Roues, title of the SMCQ concert with flautist Claire Marchand (who played a work by Sciarrino masterfully)...won the Opus of the Concert of the Year-contemporary music."
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Guy Marceau, La Presse, Montreal
Concert SMCQ: Les yeux dans les roues
"The flautist Claire Marchand is fearless. And this is not the sign of a stupid and blind obstinacy. Quite the contrary! We should rather see in her "fierce" determination the will to go to the end of things by offering us, this evening, almost a complete work for solo flute, a collection of more than an hour of music navigating the narrow line that separates the audible from the inaudible: L'opera per flautore Sciarrino ."
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Walter Boudreau, artistic director SMCQ
Claire Marchand: a tour de force
"Very rare are the flutists with the technique, the musicality and the endurance required to hold the complete hour of solo flute represented by the Sciarrino. This absolutely solo flute hour was listened to without boredom, thanks to the inexhaustible imagination of the composer Italian and to the brilliant talent of its interpreter."
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Claude Gingras, La Presse, Montreal
…Grandissimo pianissimo
"... locked in the choir, Claire Marchand delivers to the audience an incredible interpretation of the six works for solo flute by the Italian Salvatore Sciarrino.
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The refinement of the writing combined with the intensity of the interpretation transports us to another temple, desired by the creator, and which the intimate place organized to present it has magnified, forcing concentration on an ultimate art of communication. If spirituality can take on real meaning, it is found without a hitch in this unique artistic feat."
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François Tousignant, Le Devoir, Montreal
"Claire Marchand, flautist of great quality, gifted with playing intelligence - endowed, in addition, with the most disarming smile there is, triggered at the end of each performance."
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Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, Law, Ottawa
"…Subtlety of colors where the technique and virtuosity of Claire Marchand find their place magnificently. We have here a disc with a magnificent program, mixing styles, offering both famous works and other lesser known ones, and revealing moreover a leading performer."
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Magazine "la Traversière" Paris, France
"The pieces are remarkably well played. …a lot of musicality. A remarkable artist"
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Yves Préfontaine, Record Chronicle, Radio-Canada FM
"Brilliant...The young virtuoso speaks while playing Takemitsu; in Steve Reich's Vermont Counterpoint, she dialogues with the pre-recorded tape of a flute ensemble already used on disc by her teacher Lawrence Beauregard."
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Claude Gingras, La Presse, Montreal
"Bério, Varèse, Takemitsu: Claire Marchand has a whole sense of structure, of form."
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Aurèle Nicolet, flautist, Switzerland
"A recording filled with elevation that will appeal to lovers of Zen. A real pleasure when you know that the flute experienced a century of eclipse between the Baroque period and 1913."
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Daniel Roland, Journal "ICI", Montreal
"…Fascinating. An excellent album of music for solo flute from the repertoire of the 20th century."
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Philip Anson, "La Scena Musicale" Montreal
"…the audience was rewarded with contemporary flute classics such as Sequenza by Berio and Densité 21.5 by Varèse. concerto for flute and percussion by Lou Harrison.
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Maria Simpson, "Hour" Montreal newspaper
"Tenderness of Crane" by Shirish Korde was masterfully played by Canadian flautist Claire Marchand."
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Jules Langert, Contemporary Music Review, San Francisco
"The concert by flautist Claire Marchand was exemplary…"
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Dominique Olivier, Journal "See", Montreal