Music / Ana de la Vega and Grace Kim. At Snow Concert Hall, November 15. Reviewed by ALANNA MACLEAN.

This concert was a great showcase for the flute in the hands of Ana de la Vega and a reminder of the steadfastness of skilled accompanists, in this case pianist Grace Kim.

In between pieces de la Vega provided a relaxed and informative explanation of the program, which largely focused on French music with the odd relevant detour. After all, Mozart did spend time in Paris which was a good excuse to give a lilting performance of  his Sonata No. 21 in E Minor K 304 (Paris, 1778).

And if you are going to be discussing French music and its influences, why not include (as de la Vega did) a rousing flute treatment of excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen?

After all, France and Spain share a border which has not been impervious.

De la Vega discussed influences and style and the spare voice of the flute threw a different light on some well-known pieces. There was a real freshness in hearing something like Debussy’s Clair de Lune or Massenet’s Meditation from Thais on the flute.

A very full program also included Chaminade, Saint-Seans, Faure, Ravel and Poulenc. The pieces were short and sharp and the performer’s commentary an excellent explanation of context, which hopefully was being taken in by the significant number of young people in the audience.

The encore, the lilting melancholy Nocturne (1911), was a quiet tribute to Lili Boulanger, the French composer who died far too young, and also a nod to the influence of her sister, Nadia Boulanger, who taught many a 20th century composer, French and others.

De la Vega and Kim collaborated throughout with happy humour, musical prowess and a geniality that made this concert a winning occasion.