César Franck (1822-1890) - Gabriel Fauré (1845-1914) - Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) - Flute Sonatas - Sharon Bezaly & Vladimir Ashkenazy - BIS Records BIS-2259 (2017)

César Franck - Gabriel Fauré - Sergei Prokofiev - Flute Sonatas
Sharon Bezaly & Vladimir Ashkenazy
BIS Records BIS-2259 | Classical | Mch & 2ch Hybrid | DR13
SACD-rip via Cambridge Audio CXU to iso (3.40 GB)

Sharon Bezaly dominates the tiny, rarefied space afforded to full-time solo flautists – and this disc demonstrates why: the Swedish-based Israeli has phenomenal strength and versatility, combined with crystalline clarity of sound. Her 24-carat gold, custom-built Muramatsu flute is reminiscent of James Galway, but this is not a marketing fad; the luxurious sound is partly attributable to the glorious instrument.
The Prokofiev Sonata, inspired by the flute playing of Georges Barrère, is notorious among the flute community for its challenging and rarely used top D. Naturally, this note – and the rest – cause no issues for Bezaly, who swoops through the movements with incredible power. It’s virtually impossible to imagine that, when the work was premiered in 1943, it was criticised for its meandering solo part, which the composer quickly re-gifted to violinist David Oistrakh. Happily, by the time Galway and Martha Argerich recorded the piece in 1975, the work had been returned to the flautists; Bezaly’s cleaner lines on this new version are preferable.
In a neat twist of irony, this disc pairs the Prokofiev with transcriptions of two violin sonatas, both, curiously, in A major. Franck’s Sonata, originally written for Eugene Ysaÿe, begins with restrained, plaintive melodies, before moving into complex canonical writing for both flute and piano, performed here by the dazzling Vladimir Ashkenazy. Bezaly begins the Fauré – her own transcription – at a trot, never a step out of pace with her pianist. The later movements are a boisterous chromatic canter. 
classical-music.com

All three of the sonatas on this disc exist in versions for both flute and violin soloists. The Prokofiev sonata, written originally for the flute, was subsequently transcribed for violin by David Oistrakh to provide the music with what he described as a “more powerful voice”. In fact that “violin sonata”, now described as No. 2, has been recorded more often that the original flute score. The Franck violin sonata has been transcribed for many other instruments, most notably the cello, but this version for flute was written by Jean-Pierre Rampal (presumably in the 1960s, although the date is not given in the booklet and I have not been able to confirm this). The Fauré sonata has been transcribed by Sharon Bezaly herself, and here has received its first recording in the flute version.
The violin is, as Oistrakh observed, a more powerful instrument than the flute, but all three of the works on this disc work well when played on the more reticent woodwind instrument. And all three are exceptionally well played here by Sharon Bezaly, with Ashkenazy providing firm impact in his accompaniment, a superb recording in the sympathetic acoustic of Potton Hall, and excellent booklet notes by Jean-Pascal Vachon. Those who would like to hear these sonatas, all of them more familiar in their violin form, played on the flute could not hope to encounter anything better.
Alternative readings of the Franck sonata on flute are to be found in the catalogues, including ones by James Galway and by Rampal himself, and of course there are multiple choices for the original version of the Prokofiev sonata. There are, hovwever, no other recordings of Bezaly’s own flute arrangement of the Fauré, and as such this CD is hors concours. It makes for a most satisfying listening experience, with many points of illumination and enlightenment.
musicweb-international.com

Tracklist:

César Franck - Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8 (Arr. J.-P. Rampal for Flute & Piano)
01. I. Allegretto ben moderato 6:15
02. II. Allegro 7:46
03. III. Recitativo-fantasia. Ben moderato 6:33
04. IV. Allegretto poco mosso 6:25

Gabriel Fauré - Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13 (Arr. S. Bezaly for Flute & Piano)
05. I. Allegro molto 9:14
06. II. Andante 6:14
07. III. Allegro vivo 3:29
08. IV. Allegro quasi presto 4:55

Sergei Prokofiev - Flute Sonata in D Major, Op. 94
09. I. Moderato 8:08
10. II. Scherzo. Presto 4:38
11. III. Andante 3:28
12. IV. Allegro con brio 6:17

Total playing time 73:22

Checksums:
MD5: 4ae98f6c5ff7d08bbe6389c25a2e8e97 *Franck - Fauré - Prokofiev Flute Sonatas.iso
SFV: Franck - Fauré - Prokofiev Flute Sonatas.iso 96F378D6

Musicians:
Sharon Bezaly, flute
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vBfKtDGLg4

https://www.filefactory.com/folder/a97abc2c0f5da66c

Franck - Fauré - Prokofiev Flute Sonatas - Sharon Bezaly & Vladimir Ashkenazy.torrent