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| Recordings to celebrate the world of the oboe |
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CD NEWS
If you would like to be notified when a CD is out, send an
email to mail@oboeclassics.com
with the CD name as the title (no text is necessary). I will email you when it is available.
'Han de Vries - the Radio Recordings'
posted 15th Jan 2012
Here is a review by Thiemo Wind in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf:
"At the radiant centre there is that very personal way of playing the oboe.
"Some music enables the listener to long for unknown and remote perspectives, worlds that
nobody knows.
"If there is one instrument that is able to reproduce the radiance of this desire it is the
oboe.
"And if there is a single oboist who has realized this to the full it is Han de Vries."
Full details are here.
CD Launch Concert
posted 24th November 2011
Alison Teale's new CD is already making waves, not least on BBC Woman's Hour, with a terrific live performance of the Bebop Tango.
You can hear this and more at her launch concert.
Programme details are on this
JPG.
If you can get to north London for an early Sunday evening concert,
The Forge
is a lovely venue, with a cafe/restaurant to relax in after what I'm sure will be stunning cor anglais
playing.
More about Alison Teale can be found at
alisonteale.com
Reviews of 'music for oboe, horn and piano'
posted 12tt Sept 2011
"Throughout the disc, Jeremy Polmear's vibrant and poetic sound is partnered by Stephen
Stirling's effortless chamber music playing and imaginative range of horn colours."
George Caird, Double Reed News
"Mozart's Trio transcription has been accomplished very adeptly and in the spirit of the
music. Especially pleasing is the songful duet between the oboe and horn in the slow
movement, not to forget the energy and brio with which all three musicians play the Rondo finale.
The recorded sound at Wyastone Leys is first class. If this combination of instruments
appeals, and there's no real reason why it shouldn't, you'll find music that is engaging,
clever and often quietly memorable." Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
"It is often said that Herzogenberg's music is derivative and rather academic but the committed performance here belies this." Paul Sawbridge, The Horn Magazine
"I enjoyed very much the execution of my Trio. Tempi, style, virtuosity, sensibility, everything is
excellent, as I like it." Jean-Michel Damase, France
"This is the finest performance/recording of my work I have ever heard! I am so very happy with it all.
The waltz section has never really been done the way I like it - fast, that is! And your interpretation is
spot on. Thank you all very much. I am smiling wide!" Paul Basler, USA
Coming soon...
A box set from Han de Vries
Nearly 11 hours of joyous oboe playing
(click the image on the left for details)
The sheer range of oboe repertoire covered in this box of nine CDs, a DVD plus a short bonus DVD
has to be unequalled, all played in Han de Vries' inimitable style.
Check out these samples (listed in alphabetical order):
some springy Bach,
hypnotic Bainbridge,
sustained energy in Richard Rodney Bennett,
tasteful Cimarosa,
enchanting Françaix,
elegant Mozart,
jaw-dropping Penderecki,
graceful Röntgen,
electric rock with Peter Schat,
and
playful duetting with Bart Schneeman in
Voormolen.
Who would have thought that one instrument -
let alone one player - could do all this?
Coming October 16th...
Alison Teale cor anglais (english horn), Elizabeth Burley (piano)
posted 1st June 2011
Music by M Berkeley, Bozza, Falla, Gordon, Hindemith, Luchetti, Messiaen,
Pasculli, Piazzolla, Ravel, Rubbra, Saint-Saëns and Valentine.
Who would have thought a cor anglais and piano could perform Manuel de Falla's
Ritual Fire Dance? But not only does Alison Teale
have a phenominal technique and dynamic range, she can also float a magical phrase, as in
Eugene Bozza's Divertissement.
Here is the slow opening build-up in Paul Hindemith's celebrated Sonata,
and a complete Allegro movement of a Sonata by the English composer Robert Valentine (1680-1735).
Everywhere, Alison pushes both her instrument and the repertoire beyond its normal limits, for example in the
Tango 1960 by Astor Piazzolla, or David Gordon's
Bebop Tango.
If the CD title puzzles you, slide your mouse over the cover picture for an explanation.
Hopefully by the end of this CD, wherever you are from, you will feel like saying... "cor!".
More about Alison Teale can be found at
alisonteale.com
The Oboe Band
posted 5th July 2011
This CD is not made by Oboe Classics but it's a natural for this site. Oboe Bands were a
feature of the European courts in the late 17th/early 18th Centuries, though marching into
battle while playing an oboe was banned in 1683 on Health and Safety grounds.
It's a lovely collection of pieces by composers better and lesser known; there are some
sound clips here.
Dido's Lament on YouTube
posted 8th April 2011
This is a track from the download album Musical Meze,
supplemented with photos from the recording sessions.
Dido's part is played on the cor anglais (english horn),
where it seems to fit very naturally.
A Spring Index
posted 10th March 2011
There are now twenty-two Oboe Classics CDs and one download album.
All very good, but that can make looking for a particular work time-consuming.
So there is now an Index of works, pointing to the CD details for that work,
with links to the main catalogue and the downloads page.
This is also a new way of browsing the catalogue.
Give it a try - you might find some Spring surprises!
Musical Meze is ready
posted 5th February 2011
This album is now available on iTunes, Amazon and other download sites.
Type in Musical Meze to locate it.
It is not available as a physical CD.
The Polmear Ambache Duo has given recitals in 33 countries on 5 continents; they have also performed many programmes of words and music. For both these situations they have always looked for short, expressive pieces that can appeal to a wide range of listener.
This album contains some of their favourite such pieces.
On the oboe, some works are unfamiliar, such as Marie Hester Parke's beautiful Andante espressivo or the Danse de la Mer Noire by Turkish composer Erol Erdinç. Some are better known, such as Gabriel's Oboe.
On the cor anglais, the four tracks include Dido's Lament and Ravel's Habañera. The six alto sax tracks are arrangements of jazz and show tunes, such as Duke Ellington's It don't mean a thing and George Gershwin's Summertime. [Total 18 tracks; 46:36]
The session photos are below, an there is a PDF (printable) set of track details
here.
Reaction to the two latest CDs
posted 1st January 2011
It is still early for press reviews, but here are responses from two illustrious oboists:
Nicholas Daniel on Frozen River Flows :
"The composers on this fabulous disc range from absolutely wild to superbly cool. What I love about the choice of pieces is a wonderful catholicity of taste, huge variety of sounds and acoustic recording styles, and that the performers choose works for recording by their quality alone"
Han de Vries on music for oboe, horn and piano:
"A fantastic recording. Lovely music, absolutely wonderful playing, perfect intonation, perfect
dynamic and such a very good balance - clear and not as here in Holland, too near the instruments
and therefore not soft enough. Your CD is in my computer and so I always listen to it."
The 'music for oboe, horn and piano' CD is ready
posted 1st Dec 2010
The session photos are below, and here are some sound clips:
Here is a CD to explore the possibilities of this fascinating combination. This clip is part of the first movement of Mozart's Trio after the Quintet K407, with delightful interplay between oboe and horn.
There are two other longer works - Herzogenberg's landmark Trio (this is part of the last movement), and an utterly delightful Trio from Jean-Michel Damase (this is part of the first movement).
There are three shorter items - an operatic duet from Adolphe Blanc, a Danse arabe from Molbe, and a 1990 Vocalise-Waltz from the American Paul Basler.
The Polmear Ambache Duo (Jeremy Polmear and Diana Ambache) have been recording a mixed programme of pieces that they have performed on their British Council tours, and in their words and music programmes, that don't fit into a conventional CD context.
They will be available through the standard download sites, either as individual songs or as an 'album' called Musical Meze, but there will be no CD as such.
The music is:
Oboe and piano:
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach), Andante (Park), Northumbrian Dance (Bush), The Watermill (Binge), Impromptu No 4 (Le Fleming), Complaint (Maw), Dance of the Black Sea (Erdinç), Gabriel's Oboe (Morricone).
Cor anglais (english horn) and piano:
Trelawney March (Cornish Trad.), Gaelic Lament (Shaw), Air on a G String (Bach), Habañera (Ravel), Dido's Lament (Purcell).
Alto sax and piano:
It's All Right with Me and Let's Do It (Porter), Summertime (Gershwin), America (Bernstein), Jamaican Rumba (Benjamin), It don't mean a Thing if it ain't got that Swing (Ellington).
The recordings were made at St Silas, Kentish Town, London, on the 2nd and 3rd September 2010. Producer John H West, engineer and photographer Alexander Van Ingen. Click on the thumbnails below for a larger version.
Jeremy Polmear (oboe), Stephen Stirling (horn) and Richard Saxel (piano) have been recording.
Composers: Paul Basler, Adolphe Blanc, Jean-Michel Damase, Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Heinrich Molbe and Wolfgang Mozart.
Location: The Nimbus Records Concert Hall at Wyastone, near Monmouth, Wales.
Other personnel: John H West (producer) and Alexander Van Ingen (engineer and video producer).
The CD is due out for Christmas 2010. Meanwhile, hover over these thumbnails for a description, or click for a larger version.
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