“From HaFiz to Firewing (and beyond)” = Works by SARGON, DUTILLEUX, WELCHER, DUNHILL, PATTERSON – Erin Hannigan, oboe – Crystal

by | Jun 26, 2008 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

“From HaFiz to Firewing (and Beyond)” = SARGON: Homage to Hafiz; Hass Trio; DUTILLEUX: Oboe Sonata; WELCHER: Firewing–the Flame and the Moth; DUNHILL: Friendship’s Garland–A Suite of Five Miniatures; PATTERSON: Duologue – Erin Hannigan, oboe/ Simon Sargon, piano/ Scott Walzel, bassoon/ Dan Florio, Drew Lang, percussion – Crystal CD820, 69:05 ***1/2:

Erin Hannigan is the Principal Oboist for the Dallas Symphony, and teaches at Southern Methodist University. In fact, all of her cohorts on this disc are associated with one or both of those institutions. Her tone is supple and sweet, not at all astringent and unyielding as some of he oboists of the American school can be, and she seems to easily navigate the difficulties of the instrument through a variety of styles while projecting an unerring confidence no matter what she is playing.

My problems with this disc lie only in the choice of repertory; of course, a reviewer should always primarily review the performance of a disc and not especially the music itself, but in many instances honesty at least demands that an opinion be given on the quality of the selections. In this case I can heartily recommend the two works by Simon Sargon (also the pianist here) as being completely involving and lovely works tinged with a sort of eastern exoticism that fits the nature of the oboe very well. The Dutilleux is a known quantity, recorded often (five currently available), my favorite being that of Elaine Douvas, the first chair of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, easily obtainable on an excellent Boston Records CD. But Hannigan is no slouch, and gives a thoroughly professional and exceptional reading as well. The suite by Thomas Dunhill represents the earliest music on this release, and is a very nice turn-of-the-century British piece that falls easy on the ears. Dunhill is actually enjoying a bit of a revival these days.

Though the fascinating prologue to Dan Welcher’s Firewing–the Flame and the Moth makes for a interesting premise to this work (the idea of a moth hovering around a candle, eventually lighting upon it and going up in flames, whereupon the torso tilts up on end and becomes part of the candle wick itself) [Yecch!…Ed.] by using the oboe as the moth and the two percussionists as the candle, I felt a little let down by the music. Some of it uses the now very-clichéd and endlessly irritating multiphonics, particularly nasty-sounding on an oboe, and if you don’t know the story behind the title of this work I am afraid it is all sort of nonsensical in purely musical terms. Paul Patterson’s Duologue also seems a bit dry to me with little to really grab the interest, though the composer is in fact quite a successful one.

So there you have it–opinions ventured and emails accepted. Do give Ms. Hannigan a try as she richly deserves it, but keep in mind that most recitals like this are invariably a mixed bag. The playing, however, is not–it’s quite stunning.

— Steven Ritter

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