Hugues: Works for Flute and Piano

Among the most interesting figures who must be rediscovered in the musical world of late 19th-century Italy is undoubtedly the Piedmontese composer Pietro Eugenio Luigi Hugues (1836–1913). The available information about Hugues is no longer as sparse as it once was. Thanks to data from archival research, Hugues has emerged as a surprising figure: he was not only a renowned flautist, organist, and composer, but also a distinguished geographer, university professor, and one of the leading advocates of geography education in Italian schools. His life bears striking similarities to that of his contemporary, the flautist, composer, and chemist Aleksandr Borodin (1833–1887). This recording is therefore highly compelling, partly because of its monographic character (it is the first album devoted exclusively to Luigi Hugues) and partly because of the exclusive performance of original works such as the Sonata in C major, Op. 119; Studio da Concerto in D minor, Op. 3; Sonata Romantica, Op. 57; Capriccio “Le Silfidi,” Op. 29, No. 2; Sonata Fantastica, Op. 100; “Dans le Bois,” Op. 67; and finally the Sonata in F major, Op. 95—a masterful selection of the finest pieces from Hugues’ extensive body of flute music. These works are essential to understanding the profound soul and true nature of this composer. The two soloists play period instruments: Paolo Dalmoro on flute and Maurizio Fornero on piano.