Airlines

"The performance and recording are both flawless (Desplat's trademark precision is not diluted at all in the concert hall) and obviously any fan of the composer should get the album. While it focuses on works for flute and orchestra, there remains a variety of both emotional and dramatic feelings throughout and it's a beautiful album to just sit and listen to over and over".

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"The title track, Airlines, is not the soaring orchestral work that might be imagined but an engaging and virtuosic solo flute work for Emmanuel Pahud. Desplat himself conducts the Orchestre National de France and achieves an impressively homogeneous sound. Those who have enjoyed Desplat's film scores will likely already be customers for this release. The thing is that it may attract those who are less aware of his talents".

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"Screen choice: The virtuosic Airlines and the sprawling tone poem Pelléas et Mélisande prove Desplat to be a composer with something to offer beyond the cinema screen ... [But] it's the film suites that truly capture the imagination. While there's joy to be had in the sheer familiarity of the hummable themes, Desplat's ability to capture the heart of film stories is made clear, and they are stories he retells here with great flair and abundant musicality".