CCMusic.com

Enjott Schneider is one of the most productive and successful composers of our time. Instead of chasing after the elusive goal of progressivity like many of his colleagues, he looks for common ground with people of different cultures, for universal musical values that transcend geography and history. Schneider first achieved international fame as the composer of hundreds of scores for films such as "Herbstmilch" (1989), "Schlafes Bruder" (1995), or "Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimnis der blauen Eulen" (2004), but his orchestral works also have a richly varied narrative quality that is documented in WERGO' s series of recordings dedicated to his music. Featuring internationally acclaimed soloists Lukasz Dlugosz and - in the double concerto - Agata Kielar-Dlugosz, this newest recording presents multi-faceted compositions for flute and orchestra. Common to all of them is a narrative tone that evokes the spirit of forests and water as well as the legendary ancient Chinese concubine and Imperial consort Yang Guifei, who is credited with the cultivation and popularization of flute playing in courtly circles. The Asian atmosphere of the final work on the recording creates a bridge to the double concerto at the beginning, where "water" is explicitly used as a metaphor for Daoism. Western symphonic music is united here with Chinese harmonies and melodic shapes.