The Legendary James Galway: Man With the Golden Flute

Read About This Recording

Few musicians have attained the popularity and fame that the flutist James Galway has achieved during his extraordinary career. With frequent appearances on television, Galway popularized the flute beyond all expectations. But beneath the surface of James Galway the charming, glib man with the Golden Flute, lies a musician of extraordinary talent and intensity.

Few discs have ever achieved the popularity of Man With the Golden Flute. In the 11 tracks on this disc, Galway plays some of the most demanding showpieces in the flute literature. His fleet playing in works like Paganini's Moto perpetuo and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee is staggering. But, despite the speed and dexterity, Galway's sound never wavers. In pieces like the exquisite Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Gluck's Orfeo and Euridice and the Minuet and Badinerie from Bach's Second Suite you will hear Galway's sensitivity come to the fore.

In Galway's talented hands, every work sounds marvelous and will be an integral part of any collection.

-Jacob Anthony

Quotes

Galway's technique is still razor-sharp. His trademark tone, big and luscious, flows with incredible ease and evenness throughout the instrument's compass. -The Seattle Times, 2004

Contents

Dinicu: Hora staccato; Riccardo Drigo: Serenade from Harlequin's Millions; Paganini: Moto perpetuo, Op. 11; J.S. Bach: Minuet & Badinerie from Suite No. 2 in B Minor; Michio Miyagi: Haro no umi; Godard: Waltz from Suite of Three Pieces, Op. 116; Rimsky-Korsakov: The Flight of the Bumblebee from The Tale of Tsar Saltan; Saint-Saens: Adagio & Variation from Ascanio; Chopin: Minute Waltz in D-Flat, Op. 64, No. 1; Gluck: Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice; Albert Franz Doppler: Fantaisie pastorale hongroise, Op. 26.

James Galway, Flute; National Philharmonic Orchestra; Charles Gerhardt, Conductor.