Diversion : Christian Plouvier Flute Concert - Beyond Borders
I met flutist Christian Plouvier in the summer of 2008, when he gave a concert in Tokyo sponsored by one of my print collectors. There is a small 'story' about that concert over on my 'A Story A Week' website here.
Christian came out to our place for a short visit the day after the concert, and we took him out for a walk along our very scenic Tama River ...
He came back to Tokyo again this year (2009), and I was able to catch one of the concerts he gave, with pianist Bruce Stark. From my seat, I saw that the concert wasn't being recorded, so I thought I would have a bit of fun, and turned on my small Zoom digital recorder before they started playing. This kind of thing isn't 'permitted' of course, but I planned to show the recording to Christian later, with the idea that the 'tape' would be at his disposal - I would keep it, or delete it, at his request.
When I spoke to him, he wasn't upset about it at all, and appreciated having the audio files as a kind of 'souvenir' of the concert. He has also given me permission to share some excerpts from the performance ...
Audio Samples
So here are some samples of the concert for you to listen to - you can hear the first minute (60 seconds) of each piece. This was recorded from a seat in the audience at the back of the hall, so it certainly doesn't show the 'best sound' that these two musicians provided for us that evening, but it should serve to give you a pretty good idea of their performance. I must also apologize to Mr. Stark for not catching his three solo piano pieces. My recorder batteries were running very low, and I wanted to ensure that I caught all of Christian's pieces. I might also mention that because the recording was made through binaural microphones hidden in my ears (which is how I was able to remain undetected), it sounds much better when played back through headphones than through standard speakers. Please try it!
Thank you very much gentlemen, for a pleasant evening of music!
Christian's website is here, and Bruce's is here.
'Beyond Borders' CD
Did you enjoy the audio samples? Christian and Bruce have a CD available of this same concert program - not 'live', but recorded in a studio. The price is 15.00 plus 3.00 shipping, and if you would like one, you can pay Christian directly with this Paypal link, and he will post you a copy.
