Players of the flute (whether traverse or fipple) and lute certainly played together in pre-classical times, and the lute was a paid-up member of the continuo club; little matter, then, that none of the music in this programme was originally written for such a duo, especially since none of it has suffered from over-exposure. All 12 of Locatelli's modest Op. 2a Flute Sonatas might invite a degree of ennui but one, played as here, is very pleasant. Flautists have tended to bypass BWV1033 but, irrespective of what part Bach may or may not have played in its creation, it is worth a hearing; likewise the sonata by C. P. E. Bach (three oddly ordered movements: Andante, Allegro, Vivace) which may, as Nigel North comments in his note, have been too adventurous for Frederick the Great's taste. In all these North has realized and adapted the substance of his supporting role, which could all too easily have been a dull affair, with skill and imagination. The single-keyed flute is notoriously hard to discipline but Beznosiuk wins top honours and her fluency with it helps her to add much decorative gaiety to the repeats.
The nineteenth-century music brings a change of instruments and eliminates question marks; it is all written for flute and guitar (Giuliani offered the usual violin vice flute option), and an entertaining selection of salon curiosities it is too, most of it otherwise unrecorded. Diabelli was, among many other things, a guitarist and, here, the arranger of popular pieces by his more distinguished contemporaries. Play 'spot the tune' and enjoy it. The playing, on reproduction period instruments, is superb and the performers are perfectly matched in stylistic approach, high instrumental skill and in their attentively nuanced ensemble. The recording quality leaves nothing to be desired.'