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Oboe Classics - Labels

   Found CDs: 23
 

Virtuoso Oboe Music by Antonio Pasculli - Ch.Redgat, oboe and S. Robbings, piano

Virtuoso Oboe Music by Antonio Pasculli - Ch.Redgat, oboe and S. Robbings, piano
ID: CC2006
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

The CD booklet contains a 2,000-word essay by Christopher Redgate on the music and life of Antonino Pasculli in English, Italian and German. The photos include two of Pasculli and one of his Triébert oboe.


Antonino Pasculli was born in 1842. The great violin virtuoso Paganini had died two years previously (also an Italian, a performer and a composer) and Franz Liszt was touring Europe as a dazzling virtuoso. Some have likened Pasculli to Paganini and perhaps for good reason; he must at least have known the reputation of these two giants.

But there were others. The concept of the performer/composer was very common in both the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of them wrote music for their own use, and often specifically to display their techniques. There were many fine oboist/composers during this period - Casimir Lalliet (1837-92) and Stanislas Verroust (1814-63) to name but two. What sets the music of Antonino Pasculli apart, however, is the extreme technical demands he makes upon the oboist (I know of nothing else from the 19th century repertoire to compare with the challenges he poses), and the creative ways in which he uses his chosen material. copyright Christopher Redgate 2003
21.00 eur Temporarily out of stock

Britten: Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe, Op. 49 -Anatomy of a Masterpiece

Britten: Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe, Op. 49 -Anatomy of a Masterpiece
ID: CC2017
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Instrumental
Subcollection: Oboe

The 52-page CD booklet (DVD-size) has a 20,000 word programme note in English, including performance considerations for each movement. Britten's compositional sketches are reproduced in the booklet.
There are many illustrations.

This recording sets out to provide a complete overview of Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece for solo oboe, Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op 49. Not only is this work unique in the oboe repertoire but it is also one of the most distinctive examples of solo single-line instrumental writing from any age. It is hoped that performers, listeners, students and teachers will find it a useful resource for the understanding or preparation of such a wonderful work. The Metamorphoses is, though, complex in vision and detail and there is much to discover about the work. From its enigmatic title and colourful movements to its remarkable instrumental writing and technical demands on the player, it holds a certain mystique and can even be baffling to understand. This recording has based itself on an investigation of the literary and artistic background that lies behind the work’s creation, at the primary written sources in its composition and to suggest the reasons for Britten’s interest in writing such a work. In addition, these notes will offer performance suggestions based on Britten’s own remarks on the work, views and performances of players from its dedicatee, Joy Boughton, onwards and the shared experience of teachers and aficionados. My performances on this CD take all the original and subsequent evidence into account. They do not aspire to be definitive in any way but they do seek to be as true to Britten’s intentions as possible. Joy Boughton’s 1952 recording is an important source for all aspects of interpretation, and other recordings by artists whose playing Britten knew, including Sarah Francis, Janet Craxton and Heinz Holliger, are valuable sources. Evidence that Britten was very keen on accuracy to what he wrote influences this interpretation, but there is also an acceptance that Britten’s own views on the work may have changed over time as he came into contact with performers. Perhaps most significantly, this recording presents for the first time the sketch from Britten’s pocket diary in March 1951, most of the material from his manuscript sources, and the original Boughton recording as a point of reference. To complete this study of the work, a recent recording by Nicholas Daniel provides a third performance for comparison.

1. General
Introduction
Background
A work for unaccompanied oboe
Literary influences
Ovid
The visual arts
2. Sources and Interpretations
The printed edition
Metronome marks
The Krebs letter
CD tracks 1-6: George Caird's performance:
Pan (1:48), Phaeton (1:29), Niobe (2:26),
Bacchus (1:53), Narcissus (3:04), Arethusa (2:49)
CD track 7: The Diary Sketch (1:52)
CD tracks 8-29: Performances by George Caird
from the Composition Sketch and Fair Copy
CD tracks 30-35: Joy Boughton's 1952
performance: Pan (2:09), Phaeton (1:30),
Bacchus (2:02), Niobe (2:16),
Narcissus (2:26), Arethusa (2:53)
CD tracks 36-41: Nicholas Daniel:
Pan (2:20), Phaeton (1:20), Niobe (2:36),
Bacchus (1:38), Narcissus (3:12), Arethusa (2:42)
Biographies
3. References
Bibliography
Discography
Picture references
21.00 eur Buy

Rare Goossens - Oboe Concertos

Rare Goossens - Oboe Concertos
ID: CC2005
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

Recorded between 1925 and 1947

The CD booklet contains an essay (in English, French and German) about Goossens and his art by Melvin Harris which has recieved much praise - "Melvin Harris' excellently supportive booklet note" (Classical Music Web); "Melvin Harris, author of the excellent insert note" (Gramophone). There are photographs from Goossens' early and middle life, including some not seen before.


Of Léon Goossens it was once said: "There is perhaps only one other musician who can so etherialise his instrument. One thinks of Casals and his cello."

But it was not always so. In his early days Léon Goossens was dissatisfied with the models he was expected to emulate. His first teacher was Charles Reynolds, the renowned lead oboist of the Hallé Orchestra. Great though he was at teaching breath control and practice passages, his tone and phrasing held no magic for his young pupil. Etherealisation was absent from a tone that was broad, without vibrato and, as Léon put it, "bullish". Indeed, to mute his instrument, Reynolds used to hang a robust pocket handkerchief over his music stand and project into it!

Later studies at London's Royal College of Music brought no real inspiration, for the oboe professor there was William Malsch, a kindly man, but an unlovely player. He was dropped from the Queen's Hall Orchestra since his tone set Sir Henry Wood's teeth on edge. An American critic agreed, when he wrote "His tone bites like sulphuric acid".

The great breakthrough came when Léon heard the Belgian oboist Henri De Busscher play at the Queen's Hall. De Busscher's playing was delicate and expressive, with a marvellous singing quality about it. His long, sensitive phrases were a marvel. His cameo-like tone was endowed with a warm vibrato. This was the inspiration that Léon had yearned for. Night after night he listened out for De Busscher's solos, then went back to his room to emulate and aim for the same subtle and singing control over his oboe. He was an eager and gifted pupil, so much so that when De Busscher left for New York, Henry Wood chose the 16-year-old Goossens to take his place. copyright Melvin Harris, 2002
21.00 eur Buy

The Art of Han de Vries - Oboe Concertos

The Art of Han de Vries - Oboe Concertos
ID: CC2004
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

The CD booklet contains an interview with Han de Vries (printed in English, French and German), in which he talks about
all the works on the CD. There are photos of him throughout his career, and of his extensive instrument collection.

Jeremy Polmear talks to Han de Vries about two of the concertos on the CD:

BACH CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND OBOE:
JP: Am I right in thinking that this recording has not been issued commercially before?
H de V: Yes, it was commissioned by a major Dutch bank - the Verenigde Spaarbank - for its employees. This bank is a good sponsor of the arts as well as sport, and I am glad that one of its products is coming out into the wider world.
JP: And you had no conductor; how did you work out the interpretation?
H de V: The Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra is made up of the best players in the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and when I played with that orchestra Jaap van Zweden the violin soloist was the leader, and they are wonderful musicians who have worked with Harnoncourt, with Chailly. So the way to approach this music was very clear to us.
JP: By 1986 when you made this recording, you had played Baroque oboe for many years, but here you are playing Baroque music on the modern oboe. Were you influenced by baroque practices?
H de V: Yes of course, and I've been playing Baroque instruments since I was 28. But to play in the Baroque style on the modern oboe, with little or no vibrato, would sound cold and unfeeling. I also have a loyalty to my teachers, to the style of the Concertgebouw, to the musicians I admire, and to the other players. I don't want to be an island of 'I am right'. I want to be somebody who communicates with other musicians, and to the ears of the audience; if I have the joy of being surrounded by very good musicians then I feel I am at my best.

ANDRIESSEN, ANACHRONIE II ('furniture music'):
JP: Let me start by asking you not about the music, but about the words. There seems to be what sounds like railway announcements at the beginning, at the end, and a bit in the middle of this concerto, and as a non Dutch speaker I must ask you - what is the gentleman saying, and does it matter?
H de V: It doesn't matter. In the score there is written a part for Radio. So it can start witrh a weather forecast, or anything. And then the music is a tapestry of quotations, and crazy humouristic, or agressive moments. It starts like Michel Legrand. Then we get a quasi Vivaldi oboe concerto, then an incredible crazy cadenza that ends with the soloist becoming totally insane. Then comes a sort of funeral march of drunken horns. This piece comes from 1969 where all music was quoting others, with bits of Stravinsky and everything mixed upside-down; it is a reaction against so-called 'beautiful music'. Andriessen said to use no vibrato. Sometimes I couldn't resist it, because I thought 'this is too much, too long, too ugly'.
JP: Did you commission the piece?
H de V: I asked him to write an oboe concerto, but the ideas are all his; and he never asked me whether what he had written was possible or impossible to play. In the cadenza he wanted a sort of shawm sound - he actually said 'like a bagpipe' - and I must say it should have been much more agressive and ugly, but there I felt I had to fight for my oboe, and not destroy the ears of my listeners.
JP: But I couldn't help noticing when you were listening to it, the part that amused you most of all was the bit in the cadenza where you honk on low and high notes. Why is that so much fun to hear?
H de V: Yes, because that's the utmost ugly playing, it's leaving behind everything that is beautiful on an oboe - as if a drunken man picks it up and tries to play it. And I laughed because I had to give up all the beauty I always worked for in my life. © 2002 Han de Vries and Jeremy Polmear
21.00 eur Buy

New Ground - Seven World Premiere Recordings

New Ground - Seven World Premiere Recordings
ID: CC2003
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

The CD booklet contains (in English, French and German) a description of each piece, a biography and photo of each composer, and the libretto of Fox Woman.


Xas-Orion was conceived by Paul Goodey and Michael Oliva as a duo for oboe and electronics organised in 33 triggered events. Both parts are organised around the note 'B' which forms a core, rather than a tonal centre. The distinction between the the two sound worlds of oboe and electronics is deliberately blurred.

New Ground (by David Sutton-Anderson) is a set of linked variations on Purcell's keyboard piece 'A New Ground' heard at the outset.

Ostrich on the Plain (by Graham Fitkin) was written in 1985. There were two starting points: first, the manipulation of speed using metric modulation, and second, the sheer effort in playing the oboe.

At the Still Point of the Turning World... (by Edwin Roxburgh) has the sound of the oboe fed through a system of six delays, ranging from 4.2 to 60 seconds, plus filtering and modulation. The whole system is controlled by a graphic score.

Into the Light (by Michael Oliva) is a piece in the Romantic tradition of the tone poem. It takes the form of a journey from death (cor anglais) into a supposed afterlife (oboe) in which the piano plays the role of a sort of 'pulse giver'.

Diptych (Abstractions IV) by Timothy Salter has two movements, the first marked 'with feverish energy' and the second 'reflective yet with intensity; restless, agitated'. The mood at the end of the first movement is carried over into the cor anglais soliloquy that opens the second.

Fox Woman(music by Cecilia McDowall, words by Christie Dickason) uses the oboe in a way that exploits not only its elegance and subtlety, but also its potential for brutality. This range suggests the Japanes myths of fox spirits, dangerous shape-shifters which often took the form of beautiful women.
21.00 eur Buy

Baroque Spirit - La Fontaine

Baroque Spirit - La Fontaine
ID: CC2001
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Historical Instruments

Based in Tokyo, the ensemble "La Fontaine" was founded in l996. Six months after its first concert in October 1996, the ensemble was a prizewinner at the Yamanashi/Tokyo Early Music Competition. In 1998 they participated in the York Early Music Festival in Britain. Two years later, they performed at the International Early Music competition in Bruges, where their performance won the second prize, the audience prize, and an invitation by Philip Pickett to participate in the 2001 Early Music Festival at London's South Bank Centre.

They perform regularly in major cities throughout Japan, including the prestigeous Casals Hall in Tokyo. They have been broadcast several times on Japanese Radio (NHK-FM). This is their second CD.


The CD booklet contains an article (in English, French and German) by Stephen Pettit on the lives of the composers, and also on the social and economic circumstances in which the pieces were written, and for whom. There are more details on the instruments and the players.
21.00 eur Temporarily out of stock

Mozart - The Oboe in Mozart Chamber Music

Mozart - The Oboe in Mozart Chamber Music
ID: CC2007
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

The CD booklet contains a 2,000-word essay by Diana Ambache on the music in the CD in English, Italian and German. The photos include more from the K452 recording session and two entries from Mozart's Catalogue written in his own hand.

Human feeling is always at the centre of Mozart's music, and the collection of oboe works here illustrates this with colour and variety. As ever, Mozart excpresses everything from exuberant joy to deep melancholy, with a profound understanding of the expression of emotion. His paradoxes intrigue us; his humour entertains us; he seduces us with his beauty -and the oboe is an excellent vehicle for all this. The five works on the CD include three originally written for the oboe and two fine adaptations.

The year 1781 was an eventful one for Mozart. As well as having the première of 'Idomineo' on his 25th birthday, he also wrote the Oboe Quartet and Sonata featured here, as well as the Concerto for Two Pianos, K365. In May he had the now famous row with his patron Archbishop Collerado, which resulted in his move to Vienna and a new life as a freelance musician.
© 2003 Diana Ambache

Jeremy Polmear (oboe, cor anglais), the founder of Oboe Classics, is a freelance musician who has performed as a guest player with a number of London's chamber and ballet orchestras including the City of London Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players, Lontano, English National Ballet and The Ambache. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and after a Science degree at Cambridge University he spent some time with IBM before turning to music as a career.


AMBACHE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Sophie Langdon (violin) is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and leader of the Fourth Dimension String Quartet. She has played concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Martin Outram (viola) is a member of the celebrated Maggini String Quartet and a Professor of the Royal Academy of Music. He has given important broadcast premières of works for solo viola by Benjamin Britten and Peter Maxwell-Davis.
Susan Dorey (cello) is principal cello with the City of London Sinfonia, and a member of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Previously she played with Trio Zingara and Kent Opera.

Helen Keen (flute) is a founder member of the Endymion Ensemble, and a member of the London Mozart Players and the Orchestra of St John's. She plays frequently as guest principal flute with the London Sinfonietta, and the RPO and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Joan Enric Lluna (clarinet) has recorded the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra and other European Orchestras. He has performed at Festivals in Bath, London, Paris and Perth.

Brian Sewell (bassoon) played for 30 years as Principal Bassoon of the Orchestra of St John's. He has performed on over 250 recordings with all the major London symphony, chamber and period orchestras. He is also a founder member of the Professional Speakers Association.

Susan Dent (horn) specialises in all types of early horns. She is principal horn of the Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique and the English Baroque Soloists. Outside period performance, Susan plays in the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Endymion Ensemble.
21.00 eur Temporarily out of stock

Ready Steady Blow! - Music for beginner oboists

Ready Steady Blow! - Music for beginner oboists
ID: CC2010
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Instrumental
Subcollection: Oboe

This CD is recorded by the Graduate Students of Trinity College of Music in London, who took their post-Graduate Diploma in performing in June 2004

In the CD booklet the oboists talk about how they got started on the oboe. It has 16 pages in full colour (English only), with more photos and information, and how to obtain the music.

The main purpose of this CD is to show that there is a wealth of good music, in many styles, available to the oboe beginner. These pieces are within the general Grade 3 level, and some of them can be played after just a few lessons, so that learning the oboe can be a musical experience right from the beginning. The tracks are marked 0 to 3, to indicate their general technical level, where 0 indicates a pre-Grade 1 piece.
There are two exceptions to the Grade 3 limit - Mozart's La ci Darem (Grade 4), because it points the way to a new world of musical expression, and Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter, because, as one teacher put it, it is by far the nicest way to learn the bottom two notes on the oboe.
The selection was made in consultation with a number of teachers. I asked them which pieces their pupils responded to with enthusiasm. I soon noticed the same pieces being mentioned time and again. Some pieces were liked by some teachers and not by others, and I added in my own preferences, and take full responsibility for the final choice.
It was also necessary to stick to a smallish number of books or tutors, so that the pupil is not faced with a large music bill. Where only one piece has been included from a particular collection, it always means that there are other equally good pieces in that book. Exclusion of a book of pieces does not mean it is not good. Attention was also paid to the various exam syllabuses for Grades 1 to 3; some of these pieces appear there, some do not.
21.00 eur Buy

An English Renaissance - George Caird,oboe and friends

An English Renaissance - George Caird,oboe and friends
ID: CC2009
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

George Caird (oboe) with
Simon Blendis (violin), Louise Williams (viola), Jane Salmon (cello), Alison Dods (violin 2 in Maconchy, Gow), David Adams (violin 2 in Bliss)


The CD booklet contains a 2,500-word article by George Caird on the music in English, French and German.
There are more photos of the performers and the recording session.


This recording brings together five remarkable works for oboe and strings written between 1926 and 1946 and representing an English renaissance for the oboe as a chamber music instrument. It is a period which is musically very rich and diverse, with English composers showing new influences from Europe and America. The range and expression across these works is striking and is a tribute to the artistry of the oboist Léon Goossens, who is the dedicatee of three of the works and who taught the dedicatees of certainly one and possibly both of the other two. He was also the player behind two other important works by Bax and Finzi. These magnificent seven works, it can be argued, established a repertoire for oboe quartets and quintets and did much to promote the oboe as a chamber music instrument.

Goossens’ exquisite playing was characterised by a distinctive and sensitive sound, beautiful phrasing, a wide dynamic and tonal range and great rhythmic vitality. His collaboration with Sir Arnold Bax produced the first significant work for oboe and strings, the Quintet written in 1922 and recorded by Goossens with the International Quartet in 1924 (featured on Oboe Classics CC2005). Bax’s music, with its pastoral and elegiac qualities together with a strong Irish influence leant itself superbly to Goossens’ playing and this work must surely be partly responsible for the works on this recording. copyright George Caird 2004
21.00 eur Buy

Though Lovers be Lost -Music shadowing the two World Wars

Though Lovers be Lost -Music shadowing the two World Wars
ID: CC2008
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Subcollection: Oboe

The CD booklet contains a 2,000-word essay by Emily Pailthorpe on the music and the times in English, French and German. The photos include more of the performers, composers and the recording session.

The period between the two World Wars was one of violence, conflict, loss, nostalgia, yet great creative energy - qualities which are reflected in this collection of works for oboe and piano. These pieces conjure up a time in which loss was familiar, change seemed relentless, and yet a frenzy of exuberant artistic work was taking place. In her book 'Testament of Youth' (1933) Vera Brittain writes of the time: "Only gradually did I realize that the War had condemned me to live to the end of my days in a world without confidence and security, a world in which every dear personal relationship would be fearfully cherished under the shadow of apprehension."

The five composers represented in this disc were each directly affected by the extraordinary circumstances of the inter-war period, and their reactions were personal and diverse. Together, these pieces create not only a varied recital programme but also a window into this highly charged time. Living in the shadow of such desolation it is awe-inspiring and affirming that these men chose still to express themselves through the universal language of music. They speak clearly to us across the gulf of time in a way that is best expressed by these words of Dylan Thomas:

Though Lovers be lost, love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

copyright 2003 Emily Pailthorpe
21.00 eur Temporarily out of stock

 
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