French & Italian Flute Music Of The 18th Century, Release Date: 06/24/2008, Composer: Michel Monteclair, Michel Blavet, Jean-Pierre Guignon, Giovanni Benedetto Platti, Performer: Wieland Kuijken, Barthold Kuijken, Robert Kohnen, Number of Discs: 2. This delightful two CD set contains a varied mixture of French and Italian baroque music for flute. Performed by Barthold Kuijken, one of Belgium's leading exponents of the baroque flute, alongside his brother Wieland and the harpsichordist Robert Kohnen, these are high quality performances throughout. The choice of repertoire provides a good representation of the vast number of works composed for the flute in it's 'Golden Age'. In the eighteenth century, there were literally hundreds of flute pieces created throughout Europe. The first disc concentrates on French repertoire, and includes works by Montéclair and Guignon alongside the perhaps better known Boismortier, Blavet and Leclair. The second disc focuses it's attention on Italian works. Some of the best known composers of the time are included, including Corelli, Vivaldi and Albinoni. The difference in compositional style, in contrast to the first disc, is immediately obvious. Recorded some 12 years later, the performance has the same freshness and energy as the French disc and demonstrates the performers' understanding of the repertoire. - Carla Rees, MusicWeb International