 Oui, Theobald Boehm a bien révolutionné la flûte en la dotant d’améliorations de mécanisme et d’embouchure, augmentant son volume sonore et sa vélocité. Ce disque présente un florilège du 19ème siècle qui confronte astucieusement le flûtiste-compositeur-ingénieur à quelques confrères qui l’influencèrent (Nicholson), propagèrent « son » instrument (Demersseman) ou en mirent en valeur les nouvelles capacités (Jensen). Ceci dit tous ont en commun le style de l’époque très influencé par le belcanto italien, voire rossinien : legato, lyrisme et pyrotechnie. Chacun trouve plus ou moins d’inspiration dans son environnement national : Nicholson dans le folklore britannique, Boehm lui-même dans des terroirs austro-hongrois (polonaise, air tyrolien), Demersseman plus « école française ». Jensen (sans accompagnement de piano) est d’un classicisme plus standard. Mais dans tous les cas on croule sous les roucoulades, ornements, traits et fusées diverses dans un assaut de virtuosité un peu superficielle. Baracchi y excelle, beau son et belle technique. Di Leo, dans un style très « répétiteur d’opéra » sans grande originalité, assure très bien les parties de piano qui se résument le plus souvent à un accompagnement plutôt qu’à un dialogue musical. (Olivier Eterradossi) The compositions featured in this recording portray a pivotal step in the technical and constructive development of the flute: the moment in which the instrument – with production and manufacturing processes evolving and including a shift from wood to metal, and changes in structure, dimensions and shape of the barrel, number of keys, extension and sound power - begins to take on the appearance and to conquer the boundless elasticity in the melodic movements and in the emission, that it still possesses today. The person principally responsible for this evolution was Theobald Boehm, a Bavarian concert player, composer, teacher, inventor, entrepreneur and builder who for decades, devoted himself to the development of the flute: from around 1800, when he was still a teenager, until his death in 1881. Two factors contributed to the creation of this new instrument, which although was not always well received by Bohem’s contemporaries, was soon recognised as essential. The first was the skill in applying himself to the fine and minute details of the artifacts, which he had learned in his goldsmith father’s workshop: as a child, he had particularly developed this skill, repairing a new model of flute conceived by his teacher, Johann Nepomuk Kapeller, and he went on to perfect the skill in adulthood, combining his interest in acoustic studies along with his interest in chemistry and physics of materials.
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