BOHUSLAV MARTINU: Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra; ANTAL DORATI: Divertimento for Oboe and Orchestra; HEINZ HOLLIGER: Sonata for Oboe solo – Yeon-Hee Kwak, oboe/ Munchner Rundfunkorchester/Johannes Goritzki – MD&G 903 1586-6 SACD (2+2+2) [Distr. by E1] *****:
Hector Berlioz saw the oboe as “a melodic instrument full of tenderness,” and Richard Strauss said, “The oboe can buzz, bleat and screech, just as it can sing and lament nobly and chastely, and play with childlike gaiety.” This album of inventive twentieth century oboe works explores the variety of sounds that the modern oboe can produce and young Korean oboist Yeon-Hee Kwak plays them flawlessly.
Martinu’s Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra (1955) combines melodic invention with oboean virtuosic techniques in a way that’s stimulating, yet easy on the ears. The contrast between plush strings and the piercing tone of the oboe heightens the melancholic mood of the andante, yet the melodic lines shine through, creating a gorgeous slow movement. The bright and vivacious finale, with a clever cadenza, produces a satisfying conclusion to an ingratiating composition.
Heinz Holliger, a student of Pierre Boulez, was the premiere oboist of the mid-twentieth century. He also commissioned works from major avantegarde twentieth century composers: Henze, Carter, Penderecki, Ligeti and Stockhausen, to name a few. The Sonata for Oboe solo is a suite of different moods: searching, nimbly virtuosic, lyrically pensive and frenetically nervous. Yeon-Hee Kwak is an amazing oboist: her gorgeous tone and incredible technique makes this a discovery to be cherished.
Antal Dorati is best known as a major conductor of the twentieth century, leading orchestras in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Washington D.C. He also was a major conductor of Mercury recordings in the 1950s and 1960s, winning the admiration of audiophile record collectors around the world. This recording is a major addition to the few recorded works of this under-appreciated composer. The Divertimento for Oboe and Orchestra (1976) was commissioned by Discount Records and Bookstore in Washington D.C., to commemorate its one hundredth anniversary. At the time Dorati was conductor of the National Symphony. It’s a concerto for orchestra and percussion, with an obbligato oboe accompaniment. Using the sense and form of an 18th century divertimento, Dorati fashions a very entertaining five-movement, 25-minute work. It includes a playful, jazzy and rhythmically piquant Tocatta, an eerily percussive Adagio that pits the oboe’s plangent folk melody against a double string orchestra, a Menuetto that pays homage to Haydn, and a lighthearted Giga that’s a virtuosic romp for oboe and orchestra. The orchestration is brilliant throughout, as befits a musician who spent his life as a symphony conductor. This work would be a welcome addition to any orchestra program.
It would be impossible to praise oboist Yeon-Yee Kwak too highly. Her tone is sumptuous and the high registers never grate on the ears. SACD adds more depth to the spatial soundstage and MD&G’s recording is at the usual high level that makes it an authentic audiophile label. Don’t miss this recording!
— Robert Moon
