Journey to the Orient – Music for Flute and Guitar
Silvia Schiaffino (flute)
Renato Procopio (guitar)
No recording information given
Reviewed from download
Dynamic CDS8046 [62]

This is a delightful CD involving two of my favourite instruments, the flute and the guitar, which when combined produce a range of tonal colours that are light, exotic, reflective and dramatic; on this recording we can hear all of these flavours. Several of the pieces are arranged by guitarist Renato Procopio. He was born in Savona, Italy in 1974. He has previously recorded live two CDs of classical music, one featuring his guitar arrangements of Walt Disney’s most famous soundtracks (2012), and another of his arrangements of film soundtracks (2021). He has given over three hundred concerts, both as soloist and in chamber ensembles, and in 2018 played on the CD “Vol au Vent” which was awarded the bronze medal at the Global Music Awards.

This programme consists, for the most part, of arrangements for flute and guitar of works written for other instruments. Starting with the homages paid by composers from Western Europe – Vittorio Monti, Enrique Granados, Pierre-Octave Ferroud and Erik Satie. It then moves on to pieces written by musicians from Eastern Europe: Bela Bartók, Antonin Dvořák, Frédéric Chopin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich, concluding with Japanese, Iranian, and Korean popular themes. It is a real mix of musical styles including two original pieces by Procopio himself.

There are some very popular works, one of them being Oriental by Enrique Granados. The work with its languid and soft melody, is one of his most famous piano pieces, also known through countless arrangements, on this CD it is arranged by Procopio. The music played manages to retain the relaxed, gentle feeling of the original but with the added listlessness and rhythm that this pairing of instruments can bring. Just as popular, of course, is the fascinating Gymnopédie No. 1 by Eric Satie. It, too, is frequently heard in arrangements for different instruments, in this case arranged by the guitarist  Mary Criswick. It is played gently on this album by the flute while the guitarist maintains a good sense of pace and rhythm. Csárdás by Vittorio Monti quickly became his most famous piece, entering the repertoire of all gypsy instrumental ensembles. It is initially played lightly and slowly but then becomes more frantic with impressive fast work from Schiaffino before settling down again to a slow pace. But by far the most well-known piece of all on this CD is the legendary Nocturne in E flat major Op. 9 No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin arranged for solo guitar by Francisco Tárrega. This charming piece shows off well Procopio’s light and expressive playing.

Béla Bartók composed his Romanian Folk Dances for piano in 1915; two years later he made a very successful arrangement of them for string orchestra, frequently performed by chamber ensembles. He was known to be a keen scholar of folk traditions, not only those of his country but also of neighbouring lands and it is curious that one of his best-known and performed works today should be dedicated to the popular music of a nation, Romania, which has always been a fierce rival to Hungary, not only from a sporting perspective but also regarding territorial claims. The dances are made up of six short pieces named Stick Dance, Sash Dance, In One Spot, Dance from Bucsum, Romanian Polka and finally Folk Dance. On this CD, they are played in a lively and light-hearted way with an eastern and mystical feeling. Jade is an original piece for solo flute, part of a collection of Three Pieces written by French composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud. A very talented and original musician, Ferround was born in Lyon in 1900; he died tragically in 1936. It is an Asian-styled French piece with a distinctly far-eastern flavour, bird-like and lively.

The delightful Humoresque in G major Op. 101 No. 7 (originally in G flat major) is one of eight short pieces for piano by Antonín Dvořák, who composed them in 1894, at the time of his US stay. Initially, he was going to entitle them New Scottish Dances, but then he opted for the more neutral Humoresques. The track is well played, bringing a new feeling to a familiar tune. Tchaikovsky composed his three Souvenirs d’un lieu cher Op. 42, originally for violin and piano. Mélodie and Scherzo are included on this recording; the first movement, not included on this recording, was originally to have been the slow movement of his Violin Concerto Op. 35, but the composer later chose to write an alternative piece i.e. the famous Canzonetta. Mélodie is a familiar piece and works very well in this arrangement for flute and guitar; it is easy and pleasing to listen to. The Scherzo is a brisk lively affair initially, we hear a lyrical motif played on the flute with the guitar providing a strong rhythm. Later in the movement, the pace speeds up again to end in an upbeat way. Dimitri Shostakovich was a prolific composer, his output including, among other things, fifteen symphonies, six concertos, fifteen string quartets, ballets and film music. The Waltz No. 2 that Silvia Schiaffino and Renato Procopio have included in this recording is drawn from his Suite for Variety Orchestra, a composition in eight movements taken from other of his works. The Waltz No. 2 was made famous by Stanley Kubrick, who used it in the soundtrack of Eyes Wide Shut (1999). This is another well-known tune expertly arranged and played by this duo.

The last works in this programme take us to the Far East. In Haiku, Renato Procopio draws inspiration from that Japanese poetic form, which consists of three phrases composed of 17 phonetic units (similar to syllables), in a 5, 7, 5 pattern. It is a simple, melodic, haunting piece. The Sakura Variations for solo guitar are the work of Japanese composer Yuquijiro Yocoh and are based on the Sakura folk song. Sakura is the Japanese word for Cherry Blossom which has a deep cultural significance in the local traditions. The piece has seven short movements comprising a theme and variations. The penultimate work is called Three Korean Folk Pieces and this led me to investigate what the internet (Wikipedia in this case) had to say about Korean folk music: “Korea has produced music for thousands of years, into the modern day. Traditional music produced in Korea includes court music, folk music, poetic songs, and religious music used in shamanistic and Buddhist traditions”. The three pieces are short yet melodic, lyrical, stately and rather beautiful. Finally, there is another piece by Renato Procopio, Vagabond in the Desert, which the CD brochure tells us is “freely inspired by a work by Iranian composer and violinist Jahanshah Boroumand”. It has a lovely upbeat eastern feeling as the two instruments share the melody.

This is an excellent CD with an imaginative programme of very familiar works arranged for flute and guitar as well as new pieces inspired or written by Oriental themes and composers. It is well-played and certainly my kind of music.

Ken Talbot

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Contents
Anonymous
Three Korean Folk Songs arr. by Renato Procopio
Béla Bartók (1881 – 1945)
Six Romanian Folk Dances(1915) arr. by Arthur Levering
Fryderyk Chopin (1810 – 1849)
Nocturne in E flat major Op. 9 No. 2 (1831 -32) arr. by Francisco Tárrega
Antonín Dvořák (1841 -1904)
Humoresque in G major Op. 101 No. 7 (1894) arr. by Renato Procopio
Pierre-Octave Ferroud (1900 – 1936)
Jade (1921)
Enrique Granados (1867 – 1916)
Orientale (1890) arr. by Renato Procopio
Vittorio Monti (1869 – 1922)
Csárdás (1904) arr. by Renato Procopio 
Renato Procopio (b. 1974)
Haiku *
Vagabond in the Desert *
Erik Satie (1866 – 1925)
Gymnopédie (1866) arr. by Mary Criswick
Dimitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975)
Waltz No. 2 (19560 arr. by Renato Procopio
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
Melodie and Scherzo from “Souvenir d’un lieu cher” Op. 42 No. 3 (1878) arr. by R. Procopio
Yuquijiro Yocoh (1925 – 2009)
Sakura Variations for solo guitar
* Premiere Recording