Kuhlau / Schubert / Luck - In A Magic Hour Music CD

The album "In einer Zauberstunde" (In a Magic Hour) by the Australian-born flutist Xavier Luck and his compatriot Daniel Linton-France focuses on works for flute and piano that have been inspired by Lied or opera. The center piece is the Introduction and Variations on "Trockne Blumen" from Die schöne Müllerin, D 802, by Franz Schubert. This is contrasted by the Introduction and Variations on a theme from Carl Maria von Weber's "Euryanthe" for Flute and Piano, Op. 63 by Friedrich Kuhlau, which was composed in the same year. A contemporary take on this subject are the Fantasy on a theme by Franz Schubert ("Du bist die Ruh'") and the eponymous "In einer Zauberstunde" by Daniel Linton-France, which are presented as world premiere recordings. The latter work was prompted by Xavier Luck and is a virtuoso work which picks up various themes and motifs from W.A. Mozarts "Zauberflöte", from which the titel is derived. As concluding piece we find another Lied by Schubert, "Des Baches Wiegenlied", once again from his song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, in an arrangement for flute and piano by Anton Diabelli.