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| Composer(s) | Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, Antonio Zamara, Cesare Ciardi, Elias Parish-Alvars, Franz Doppler, Louis Drouet |
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The Fantasies for flute and harp in the 19th Century are a testament to the beauty and emotional range of these two classical instruments. It offers a refreshing departure from the more commonly performed repertoire and provides a fascinating exploration of the lesser-known Fantasies that deserve a special place in the hearts of classical music aficionados. This album unveils a collection of rarely explored musical gems that shimmer with otherworldly beauty, inviting listeners to lose themselves in the enchanting embrace of each composition. This collection of five Fantasies showcases the incredible versatility and expressive capabilities of the flute and harp, two instruments that have been captivating audiences for centuries. They have been carefully curated to highlight the rich musical landscape of the 19th century, a time of profound artistic expression and innovation. The pieces featured on this album offer an enthralling blend of lyricism, virtuosity, and emotive storytelling. The seamless blend of these two instruments evokes a sense of intimacy and charm, allowing the listener to delve into the nuanced expressions that only the flute and harp can deliver. The carefully crafted and virtuosic performances showcase the technical brilliance of the musicians, while also maintaining a deep sense of musicality and sensitivity to the works’ emotional core.
The five Fantasies are very different from each other. Three of them, Fantasia su temi dell’opera Casilda by Franz Doppler and Antonio Zamara, Fantasia su temi di Bellini by Joseph Fahrbach and Elias Parish-Alvars, and Fantasia per flauto e arpa op. 67 by Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, are written on opera themes, a custom very much in vogue in the nineteenth century. The Fantasia op. 35 n. 1 per flauto e arpa by Louis Drouet is written on a popular theme of Swiss culture entitled Ranz des Vaches. The last one, Il Pifferaro fantasia per flauto e arpa, is composed on themes devised by the composer Cesare Ciardi.
Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, a German musician born at the end on the eighteenth century in Münster, composed the Fantasia per flauto e arpa op. 67 in 1828. The main theme of the Fantasy is taken from the Opera Der Freischütz, composed by Carl Maria von Weber, with whom Fürstenau was a close friend. Fürstenau was an excellent flutist; he is considered the most famous virtuoso in Germany on his instrument and the most important Romantic flutist of the first half of the nineteenth century. Although this Fantasia is composed and dedicated to harpist Mademoiselle Therese de Winckel, it is clear how sophisticated and complex the writing of the flute part is. One only has to listen to the introduction or the third variation to realise how much virtuosity for the flute is present in this Fantasy. The harp plays mainly an accompanying role, with the exception of the second variation in which it is the protagonist. Fürstenau does not limit himself to virtuosity; the composition gives listeners melodic and dreamy musical moments.
Il Pifferaro, fantasia per flauto e arpa composed in 1872 by Cesare Ciardi, an Italian composer born in Prato in 1818, is based on melodies invented by the composer. The Fantasy consists of three sections: Allegretto, Larghetto and Allegro molto – Tempo di Tarantella. The introduction is given to the harp; the flute intervenes with its melodic design on an ostinato rhythm of the harp. The Larghetto is the melodic and expressive section of the Fantasy. The flute is entrusted with the melody, which is supported and completed by the harp accompaniment. A brief fragment of the first theme comes back and it works as a bridge between the Larghetto and the Allegro molto – Tempo di Tarantella. The last movement is composed on the rhythm of the Neapolitan dance of the Tarantella: it is joyful, lively and rhythmic.
Fantasia su temi di Bellini per flauto e arpa is the result of the collaboration of two artists: the Austrian flutist Joseph Fahrbach and the British harpist Elias Parish-Alvars, known as the Liszt of the harp. It is not easy to say how close the two composers worked together, but both were able to achieve that right style that manages to appropriately bring out the peculiarities of both instruments, creating a perfect harmony between them. The themes of the Fantasy are based on the opera I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini; the Fantasy opens with a Maestoso in which the unique characteristics of the two instruments are immediately brought out. This is followed by the Tema – Andantino and three variations composed in a virtuoso and brilliant character in which the technical qualities of the two instruments are extolled. The Finale is entrusted to a Tempo di Polacca that is also lively and brilliant: it gets faster and faster to conclude the Fantasy in an explosion of vivacity.
Fantasia op. 35 n. 1 per flauto e arpa was composed by the French flutist Louis Drouet around 1820 and it is the first one of the three Fantasies for flute and harp composed and dedicate to Mademoiselle Emma Agassiz. He was a great flutist and a great virtuoso of his time; for instance, he developed an excellent technique in the realisation of the double tonguing and he was called the Paganini of the flute. Doubtlessly, his ease of playing difficult and virtuosic passages is clearly evident in his compositions for flute. This Fantasy opens with an introduction that is calm and cantabile and leads, after a Cadenza of the harp, to the main theme of the composition. The Theme is based on a simple melody used by the shepherds in the Swiss Alps to call and guide their herds: it is called Ranz des Vaches or Kuhreihen, Call to the Cows. The shepherds were used to play it on the horn or to sing it. Even though the theme is very simple in its structural and composition, Drouet was able to create around it sophisticated, complexed and demanding variations for the flute part, leaving an accompanying role to the harp.
As well as for the Fantasia su temi di Bellini per flauto e arpa, also the Fantasia su temi dell’opera Casilda was created thanks to the collaboration between two composers, virtuoso musicians of their own instruments: Austrian flutist Franz Doppler and Austrian harpist Antonio Zamara. This work is dedicated to Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a sign of great deference, as the two composers were inspired for the composition of this Fantasy by the themes of the opera Casilda composed in 1851 by Duke Ernest II himself. The Fantasy opens with a Maestoso, characterised by broad arpeggios in the harp and short cadenzas in the flute. A continuous dialogue occurs between the two instruments: they exchange melodic phrases with accompanying elements. The introduction is followed by an Allegro brillante, a light, lively, fast and bright moment. The following section is a Bolero: even here flute and harp converse and exchange melodic phrases. A harp Cadenza leads to Andantino, the central lyrical moment of the Fantasy. An Allegro concludes the fantasy with great energy and liveliness.
Valentina Vatteroni © 2023
Emma Longo, Flute
Born in 2001, she graduated with full marks, honours and honourable mention at the conservatory O. Vecchi Tonelli in Modena under the guidance of Maestro Michele Marasco and Andrea Oliva. Since 2012 she has been performing throughout Italy and Switzerland in various concert seasons. In 2021 she was a flutist of the OGI (Italian Youth Orchestra), with whom she participated in the Young Euro Festival Classic performing at the Berlin Konzerthaus. She carries out an intense orchestral activity collaborating regularly with Filarmonica di Modena, Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, Orchestra del Baraccano di Bologna, Orchestra Giovanile Toscana and Orchestra Giovanile Leonore. She also played as a soloist with the orchestra of the G. Puccini Conservatory of La Spezia.
She was awarded the third prize in the Severino Gazzelloni International Competition, the first prize overall in Premio Alberghini in Bologna and the first prize at the Premio Crescendo. She also won the third prize at the Betti scholarship in Modena, getting the opportunity to perform as a Falaut artist at Campus Falaut and record for the CD young promises.
Regarding chamber music, since 2018 she has been playing in duo with the guitarist Giulio Cecchi, with whom she won international competitions and she performed in many music festivals. In 2019 she formed a duo with the harpist Valentina Vatteroni with whom she won the first prize at the Moscow Music Competition. Since 2020 she has been playing in a trio with the flutist Francesca Presentini with whom she won the AGIMUS project Attraverso i suoni. Since 2020 she has been playing with the Quintetto Fedro: it was invited to the 2022 and 2023 season of the Ticino Musica Festival in Lugano as ensemble in residence.
She is also active in the field of contemporary music: she recorded the premiere of F. Vacchi's Janus with the Maderna Orchestra and played at the Museo del Novecento in Milan during the Cinque Giorni Festival together with the contemporary music ensemble New Made.
In 2020 she participated as an effective student in the masterclass of Sir James Galway, winning an international preselection. She has also taken part in the masterclasses of Michele Marasco, Mario Caroli, Paolo Taballione, Andrea Oliva, Francesco Loi, Andrea Manco, Davide Formisano, and Annamaria Morini. She is currently attending the flute Master Music and Art Performances in Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano in Andrea Oliva’s class.
Valentina Vatteroni started her musical education when she was eight years old at the Music School in Carrara, her home town. She continued her studies at the Conservatory of Music Giacomo Puccini of La Spezia, with the teacher Lisetta Rossi, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 2018 and a Master’s Degree in 2020 with highest mark: 110/110 Cum Laude and Honourable Mention. During her academic studies, she had the opportunity of being an Erasmus student twice; she attended her last year of Bachelor Degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, with the harpist Jana Boušková, and her last six months of Master Degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, with the harpist Imogen Barford. She then furthered her studies at the Conservatory of Music Giuseppe Verdi of Milan where she attended a Second level Master course in Harp Soloist/orchestral specialization, which she also completed with highest marks. She is currently attending a Master course at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main with harpist Françoise Verherve.
As an orchestral harpist, in 2021 she won the audition for the Paul Hindemith Orchesterakademie at the Oper Frankfurt, with whom she played for the 2021/2022 season. She currently has a temporary contract as Solo Harp with the Saarländischen Staatsorchester, orchestra of the Opera House in Saarbrücken. She collaborates and has collaborated with important orchestras on the European music scene: the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña in Spain, the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Staatsorchester Darmstadt, the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, the Boulez Ensemble the Stadttheater Gießen and the Thüringer Symphoniker in Germany, the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Orchestra Sinfonica d'Este and the Orchestra Filarmonica Vittorio Calamani in Italy. In 2020 she won the audition for the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra for the summer festival 2020 and 2021.
She attended the Course Professione Orchestra 2020, an advanced training for future orchestra professionals held by Margherita Bassani. She took part in many masterclasses held by international harpists such as Fabrice Pierre, Helga Storck, Alexander Boldachev, Manja Smits and Letizia Belmondo.
She has been performing both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles in Italy, Belgium, Germany and UK; she has also performed as Soloist with Orchestra the Harp Concerto by G. F. Händel and the Concerto for flute, harp and orchestra by W. A. Mozart.
Anton Bernhard Fürstenau: (b Münster, 20 Oct 1792; d Dresden, 18 Nov 1852). Flautist and composer, son of (1) Caspar Fürstenau. A pupil of his father, he made his first public appearance as a flautist in Oldenburg at the age of seven and became a member of the Oldenburg court orchestra in 1804. His frequent concert tours with his father took him to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Copenhagen and Prague, where he met Carl Maria von Weber in 1815. Partly owing to his wish to settle down and partly on account of his father’s poor health, he accepted an appointment to the Frankfurt town orchestra in 1817; there Johannes Vollweiler gave him further lessons in composition. The year after his father’s death he moved to Dresden, where he became first flautist under Weber’s direction. He continued to make numerous concert tours, and in 1826 he accompanied Weber to Paris and London; although he performed in London, Fürstenau cancelled his benefit concert because of Weber’s illness.
Fétis and others praised Fürstenau’s playing for its dexterity and expressiveness; only in England did he have a poor reception, his execution being praised but his tone criticized as inferior to that of Nicholson. He continued to play on the old-fashioned flute; in his Kunst des Flöten-Spiels op.138 (Leipzig, 1909), he voiced his opposition to the new flute and its monotonous sound. A prolific composer for the flute, he wrote variations and rondos on popular opera themes by Weber, Meyerbeer, Halévy, Bellini and others. His concertos exhibit virtuoso writing and an operatic influence in their themes and style; other works for flute, however, show the influence of Weber.
Antonio Zamara
(b Milan, 13 June 1829; d Hietzing, nr Vienna, 11 Nov 1901). Austrian harpist and composer of Italian birth. He studied the harp with Simon Sechter at the Vienna Conservatory and became solo harpist at the Vienna Hofoper in 1842, a position he retained for 50 years. He was also professor of harp at the Vienna Conservatory, and wrote a Harfenschule, salon pieces, and transcriptions for the harp as well as works for harp in combination with other instruments. Among Zamara's pupils were Eduard Strauss, Edmund and Heinrich Schuëcker, Alfred Kastner and Vicki Baum. He also taught his daughter, Theresa, and his son Alfred (b Vienna, 1863), who like his father became professor of harp at the Vienna Conservatory and solo harpist at the Vienna Hofoper. Alfred Zamara wrote many salon pieces, made transcriptions for the harp, and edited Naderman's Sieben Etuden; among his pupils was Joseph E. Schuëcker.
Cesare Ciardi Italian flautist and composer. Born at Prato to a Tuscan family, Ciardi eventually settled in 1853 in Russia, where he was appointed in 1862 as professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and became Tchaikovsky’s flute teacher. Ciardi himself played as first flute in the orchestras of the Imperial Theatres in Saint Petersburg, including the orchestra of the Imperial Italian Opera and of that of the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. He died at Strel’na and was succeeded in his orchestral role by Ernesto Köhler.
Ciardi possessed many talents and was also a sculptor and caricaturist.
Elias [Parish, Eli] Parish Alvars
(b Teignmouth, 28 Feb 1808; d Vienna, 25 Jan 1849). English harpist and composer. He studied with François Dizi and also worked with Théodore Labarre in London. For some time in the 1820s he was employed by the harp manufacturers Schwieso and Grosjean at their Soho Square premises, where he may have met the shadowy figure known as A. Alvars, who dedicated a harp piece to Frederick Grosjean, and who may well be the person whose surname Eli Parish appears to have adopted; at the same time he changed his name from Eli to Elias. It is as Elias Parish Alvars that his name appears on his earliest published compositions (Artaria, 1836).
Franz Doppler (b Lemberg [now L'viv], 16 Oct 1821; d Baden, nr Vienna, 27 July 1883). Flautist, composer and conductor. He was taught music first by his father, the composer and oboist Joseph Doppler, and made his début in Vienna at the age of 13. After several concert tours with his brother (2) Karl Doppler he settled in Pest, where he was first flautist in the German Town Theatre from 1838 and in the Hungarian National Theatre from 1841. His first opera, Benyovszky, was produced at the National Theatre in 1847, and four further Hungarian operas were staged there during the next ten years, all with considerable success; they combine Italian influences (e.g. Donizetti) with elements of Russian (Benyovszky), Polish (Vanda) and Hungarian music. Again with his brother Karl, he took part in the foundation of the Philharmonic Concerts in 1853 under the conductorship of Ferenc Erkel. The two brothers continued to make successful joint concert tours throughout Europe, including a visit to the Weimar court in 1854 when they met Liszt, and a tour with the violinist Karl Hubay to London in 1856. Franz moved in 1858 to Vienna, where he worked for the Hofoper as first flautist and assistant (later chief) conductor of the ballet. Most of his ballet music, which was widely popular, dates from this period and his only German opera, Judith, was performed at the court in 1870. From 1865 he taught the flute at the Vienna Conservatory. He was a skilful orchestrator, and his transcriptions of some of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies became well known.
Louis(-François-Philippe) Drouet
(b Amsterdam, ?14 April 1792; d Berne, 8 Sept 1873). French flautist. He played at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of seven, and though he did not study his instrument at that institution, it is recorded that he worked at composition with Méhul and Reicha. In the early 1800s he made successful concert tours with his father, and about 1808 he was appointed soloist to the King of Holland. In 1811 came an invitation from the emperor to visit Paris, where he received a similar appointment. Drouet’s success in Paris was immense, though in the opinion of many he remained second to Tulou. After the restoration of Louis XVIII he was appointed first flute in the royal chapel. Success and honours in France did not, however, reduce his desire to appear as a travelling virtuoso.
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Physical Release: 21 November 2025 Digital Release: 28 November 2025
Physical Release: 21 November 2025 Digital Release: 28 November 2025
Physical Release: 21 November 2025 Digital Release: 5 December 2025
