Laurel Zucker & Mark Shapiro
The Dark Side of the Flute

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Even in the world of classical, where the music and listeners are well educated and refined, you can find some humor in a serious world. Laurel Zucker (flute) and Marc Shapiro have united once again to record compositions that look at the darker side of music on The Dark Side of the Flute (a play on words with the Pink Floyd classic Dark Side of The Moon). As Laurel talks about in the liner notes, the flute is normally uplifting and bubbly; however looking at the darker places of the mind and the time and space that it inhabits is an entirely different way to use the instrument.

Zucker and Shapiro travel down the road of composers dating back to the 1700's such as Christophe von Gluck. There are 13 tracks with two suites, tracks 3-7 and 9-11. The suites are the most impressive work as they take you through a story without words. Zucker's flute carries with it emotion and the vicissitudes of life while Shapiro walks right alongside her, playing equally effective piano. The two instruments make musical interplay a joy to hear.

It has been a while since I explored the music of this renowned flutist and now I can renew my interest once again. There are four other recordings out now as well. Surely each one is quite different from the other and will challenge my imagination and heighten my senses. I enjoyed the pensive anticipation this music made me feel and the relaxing atmospheres suddenly changing to a faster pace and brooding mood. It all amounts to an amalgam of human emotions interpreted through beautiful classical music.

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