Michael Faust is a brilliant player who is fazed by none of the music’s demands—bent notes, flutter-tongue, and so on—either when playing the flute or its baby brother.

If you appreciate the music of Kagel, this CD will definitely be one for you. If you are simply curious about the work of one of the more unorthodox of modernist composers, you will certainly find plenty to enjoy. Performances and recordings are simply superb, and Kagel’s music is worth exploration. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review

I am most drawn to Pan and Phantasiestück in its duo version. The former is a little riff/romp on Papageno’s music from De Zauberflöte, and infectious in its wit and concision…The latter is…a stream-of-consciousness flow from one idea to another, but one feels his sense of invention being strongly stimulated at every juncture. I particularly like the passage centered on the flute’s percussive breath attacks…

This compilation from Naxos offers a glimpse into Kagel’s divided universe, recruiting flutist Michael Faust and pianist Paulo Alvares to interpret the composer’s work. The opening track on the CD, Das Konzert, is a self-conscious reflection on the writing of a flute concerto—music about music that, nevertheless, remains aligned with Kagel’s artistic conceits. Amidst pizzicato rhythms, accompanists from Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä create gentle harmonic clusters; the flute weaves its way through a series of melodic transformations, eventually resolving in a climatic exchange between soloist and strings. A compelling introduction to one of last century’s illuminating musical intellects. © 2012 Scene Magazine href="http://scenemagazine.com/portals/0/pdf/web673.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read complete review

I began listening to the CD with Pan. It’s a sort of eccentric Scherzo, a fantasy with its changing textures and tempi which lasts less than five minutes. I’ve never, from my own experiences, found the piccolo to work in a chamber music context. Here it is an absolute delight and makes me realize how important it is to have a full-time piccolo player playing for you. It is I think a matter of embouchure control and an ability to balance the sound that counts. Both are achieved supremely here by Michael Faust.

As a ‘flute concerto’ with a keenly developed orchestral part, Das Konzert is packed with trademark Kagelian sleights-of-hand: flouncy impressionism twisted into deadpan marches; athletic and directional string-writing suddenly divided into an infinity of insect-like movements; a droll false ending.

Mauricio Kagel, bonaerense que llegó a Europa en 1957 para quedarse por estas tierras, fue un compositor autodidacta, y ese es uno de los factores que han hecho de él el gran experimentador, el que se ha salido de la ortodoxia y ha abierto nuevas puertas. Cuatro son las obras que figuran en el disco, aunque son tres los títulos. Pan es una breve obra para piccolo y cuarteto de cuerda con una cierta socarronería. Das Konzert es un concierto para flauta y grupo instrumental compuesto por cuerdas, arpa y percusión que dialogan en el mismo plano de protagonismo que la flauta; es obra de su período final, 2001-2002, y hace continuos guiños a un idealizado romanticismo. Por último, Phantasiestück, de 1987-88, muestra el giro en el lenguaje de Kagel cuando incorpora notación más convencional y Schumann se convierte en una potente inspiración para Kagel. Se presenta en dos versiones, para flauta y piano, y para flauta y grupo formado por clarinete y cuarteto de cuerda; ambas versiones disponen del mismo material, pero la segunda muestra mayor variedad expresiva por el aspecto tímbrico y la diversidad de texturas. Las versiones son impecables, siendo el solista el destinatario de Das Konzert, Michael Faust, bien acompañado por Patrick Gallois, excelente flautista él mismo que dirigie desde 2003 a la Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä. © 2012 Ritmo

Kagel’s 1988 Phantasiestück, a quasi-Schumannesque work that devolves from an atonal to a purely diatonic realm, appears in two versions, one for flute and piano with pianist Paulo Alvares and an expanded version with string quartet and two clarinets performed by Michael Faust’s own Ensemble Contrasts conducted by Robert HP Platz. The brief and delightful Pan for piccolo and string quartet (1985) is a pastiche on Papageno’s pan-flute solo from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Das Konzert is a theatrical work that was written at the request of Michael Faust and premiered by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 2003…It is a schizophrenic “anti-concerto” for flute and chamber orchestra expertly performed here by the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväsklä, sympathetically led by fellow flutist turned conductor Patrick Gallois. This is an entertaining yet thought-provoking disc that repays repeated listening. © 2012 The WholeNote Read complete review

“Das Konzert” is…the blockbuster extravaganza. The flute part is mercurial, the orchestral parts dynamic and timbre-rich, the music generally high modernist in a refined sort of way. It’s quite expressive and impressive as a flute concerto that ranks among the best of this current century so far.

“Phantasiestuck”…is playful, filled with a sort of good humor, harmonically rather primal sometimes, yet quite modern sounding, especially in the larger ensemble version…thoroughly enjoyable.

“Pan” is rather puckish…with an almost impressionistic and lighthearted aspect that makes it easy to hear. The piccolo part has definite brilliance.