Decca's
Flute Adagios is a double-disc compilation of short pieces and movements written or arranged for flute, drawn from the label's extensive catalog. The quality of music is quite high, as might be expected from a roster of composers that includes J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gabriel Fauré, and
Claude Debussy, among several other masters, and a list of soloists featuring
William Bennett, Roger Bourdin, Claude Monteux,
Irena Grafenauer,
Timothy Hutchins, and a handful of other notable flutists. The volume of the tracks is quite even throughout, whether recorded at chamber or full-orchestral levels, and the flute parts are quite prominent without seeming artificially boosted. As with other titles in Decca's Adagios series, the time range of the performances is quite wide. Here, recording dates run from 1967 to 1996, which means there are a fair number of digitally mastered analog recordings mixed in with the all-digital offerings. Yet the sound quality of the album is consistent, with only the barest traces of tape hiss on some of the older tracks, so there is nothing to distract the avid listener who chooses to play the set through in one sitting.