Album: Emmanuel Pahud, The Flute King (EMI Classics)

As enlightened monarchs go, King Frederick The Great of Prussia takes some beating. A successful warrior, he also championed early Enlightenment ideas, corresponding with Voltaire and writing political tracts of his own.

He was also adept as a flautist, employing C P E Bach as an accompanist, often on pieces he himself had written. This fascinating double-CD features Emmanuel Pahud's subtly gauged interpretations of concertos and sonatas by Frederick, his sister Anna Amalia; these and other contemporary works illuminate the passage from Baroque to Enlightenment ideals.

DOWNLOAD THIS Concerto No 3 for flute, string orchestra and bass; Sonata in B minor for flute and basso continuo; Concerto in A for flute, strings and basso continuo