Notes and Editorial Reviews
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
3425000.zz5_VIENNESE_OBOE_QUARTETS_Ens.html
VIENNESE OBOE QUARTETS
•
Ens Rhapsody (period instruments)
•
ARS 38 070 (SACD 65:14)
MI?A
Oboe Quartet in C.
MOZART
Oboe Quartet in F.
KROMMER
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class="ARIAL12b">Oboe Quartet No. 2 in F.
VA?HAL
Oboe Quartet in D
Who knew? Once upon a time there was only one oboe quartet: Mozart’s miraculous confection in the key of F Major. Benjamin Britten tried to horn in on the action with his
Phantasy Quartet
, but that was two centuries removed from the real deal. We have subsequently learned that Mozart’s inspiration was far from unique, that there were many oboe quartets, and that the combination was, in fact, quite popular in Mozart’s time. And so here we have a collection—a quartet, you might say—of Classical-era oboe quartets. The Mozart is included, happily, along with examples by some of the lesser lights among his contemporaries. Jan K?titel Va?hal (1739–1813) was a fixture in the musical life of Vienna despite suffering from mental illness, which is cited to account variously for his promising, early
Sturm und Drang
style and his later retreat into a more conventional idiom. He is perhaps best remembered as the cellist in the famous Haydn-Dittersdorf-Mozart-Va?hal string quartet. His D-Major Quartet is one of a set of six that was published in Paris. František Vincenc Kramá? (Krommer) (1759–1831) was also a popular force in musical Vienna, even considered worthy of comparison with Haydn and Beethoven. That is no longer the case, but his 50 or so wind octets are a continuing source of delight. František Adam Mi?a (1746–1811) is almost completely forgotten today, but he was a good friend of Mozart and a prolific composer to boot. One of his 27 symphonies was once attributed to Haydn. He wrote three oboe quartets. For oboe lovers in search of something new, then, this program is a slice of heaven.
In the final analysis, though, there is still only one oboe quartet—Mozart’s brush with perfection. Ensemble Rhapsody—oboist Michael Niesemann, violinist Pauline Nobes, violist Rachel Isserlis, and cellist Nick Selo—is a virtual all-star team of period instrumentalists, whose credits include, collectively, virtually every major period-instrument ensemble of consequence before the public. They all know what they are doing, and do it exceedingly well. You may sample this release with confidence.
FANFARE: George Chien
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Works on This Recording
1.
Quartet for oboe, violin, viola & cello in C major by Frantisek Adam Mica
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Rhapsody
Venue: Ev. Kirche Honrath
Length: 11 Minutes 21 Secs.
2.
Quartet for Oboe and Strings in F major, K 370 (368b) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Rhapsody
Period: Classical
Written: 1781; Munich, Germany
Venue: Ev. Kirche Honrath
Length: 17 Minutes 14 Secs.
3.
Quartet for Oboe and Strings in F major by Franz Krommer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Rhapsody
Period: Romantic
Venue: Ev. Kirche Honrath
Length: 14 Minutes 58 Secs.
4.
Quartetto Concertante (6) for Oboe and Strings, Op. 7: no 6 in C major by Johann Baptist Vanhal
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Rhapsody
Venue: Ev. Kirche Honrath
Length: 19 Minutes 29 Secs.
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