Cala and Nancy Ambrose
King have not stinted on their coverage
of oboe concertos. Here are four - one
from Mozart and three from the last
century - each being of princely lyricism.
Ms Ambrose King’s tone
is ample, fruity, catching the woody
temper of the instrument. Her breath
control is excellent without choppiness
and the key action is silent. Her Mozart
is playful and spiritual as required.
The Ostrava-based orchestra and Jeremy
Swerling turn in an ‘old-style’ version
with luxuriant string tone and weightiness
- more Walter or Böhm than Harnoncourt
or Pinnock. There are some gorgeous
moments in the Mozart especially in
the adagio non troppo like a
cross between prayer and seduction.
By the time you have heard this you
will realise how close the Oboe Concerto
can be to the much more famous Clarinet
Concerto.
The Goossens blends
Gallic styling (Ravel/Debussy - elements
of both) with themes out of a decidedly
English pastoral vision. The initial
call-to-arms (strangely Coplandesque)
is more arpeggiated than usual. I compared
the opening with the example recently
released on Oboe Classics by Emily Pailthorpe
- a version for piano and oboe. Generally
the players in Ostrava find time for
the poetic statements to ring out in
a lusher warmer harvest of opulence
even though the Cala version plays for
13.11 rather than the 11.52 here. The
Vaughan Williams concerto is taken with
similar breadth and it pays rich dividends.
Its singing soul is close to that of
the Goossens but the work is much more
direct, less laden with texture and
orchestral decoration; less French.
Also RVW’s themes are more memorable
and his melodic resource is spent open-handedly
because his treasury is deep. The work
is playful and winsome and so often
recalls the splendid orchestral treatment
in the opera Sir John in Love.
The competition includes Berglund’s
EMI Classics version (currently deleted)
with John Williams (then principal oboe
with the Bournemouth Symphony) which
is more muscular. However this present
version goes straight to the top as
the disc of choice if you want to hear
the RVW Oboe Concerto. The Martinů
is a late work. It was written at the
request of the Czech emigré oboist Jiří
Tancibudek and was premiered in August
1956 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt.
Again the approach has breadth but not
quite the infusion of snappy élan ideal
for Martinů. In this respect what
I recall of the Hantak Supraphon version
is to be preferred. Still, this is lovingly
done and the work is made to sound neither
drily neo-classical nor audaciously
impressionistic. The character of the
countryside piper, jaunty and musing,
as at the end of the middle movement
is well put across by Ms Ambrose King.
This is the only collection
of these works. For those having a taste
for the oboe, pitched in harmonious
partnership with the orchestra, the
choice is clear. All concerned can take
a well-deserved bow for this one and
the Vaughan Williams and Mozart are
gorgeous.
Rob Barnett
Nancy Ambrose King (oboe) 