Friedrich Kuhlau’s legacy in his lifetime was as a significant composer of music for the flute, the favored instrument of gentlemen amateurs in the early nineteenth century. In his unfinished biography of 1804–1805, the great German Romantic Jean Paul wrote that the flute was a “magic baton, which changes one’s internal world, when it is touched by it; it is a divining rod plumbing the depths of the soul.” Kuhlau is best known for the masterpieces which are the Grand Sonata for Pianoforte and Flute Obbligato, Op. 71 & Op. 83. The great composer Johannes Brahms was so impressed with the sonatas that he wrote to Clara Schumann in 1854 expressing a wish to learn the flute solely so he could perform Kuhlau’s works along with Clara at the piano. These are interpreted with flair and brio by flautist Mika Putterman, known for her beautiful sound and expressive playing, and Erin Helyard, virtuoso of he harpsichord and fortepiano.
