MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS

 

The Light Wraps You: New Music for Oboe
Rodney ROGERS (b. 1953)
Lessons of the Sky
for oboe and piano (1985) [8:47]
Bill DOUGLAS (b. 1942)
Sonata for Oboe and Piano (2004) [10:53]
James MACMILLAN (b. 1959)
Intercessions
for Three Oboes (1991) [6:23]
Bill DOUGLAS
Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (2006) [14:12]
Andrea CLEARFIELD (b. 1960)
Three Songs
for Oboe and Double Bass (after poems by Pablo Neruda) [6:44]
Fulvio CALDINI (b. 1959)
Etude de réveil
op 7/B for oboe and Clarinet [3:30]
Phillip BIMSTEIN (b. 1947)
Cats in the Kitchen
for Flute and Oboe plus the Kitchen “Sync” (2007) [13:11]
Michelle Fiala (oboe)
Donald Speer (piano); Bill Douglas (piano); Joseph Salvalaggio; Martin Schuring (oboes); Frank Morelli (bassoon); Karl Olsen (double-bass); John Cipolla (clarinet); Heidi Pintner (flute)
rec. May-June 2007, Recital Hall, Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky. DDD
MSR CLASSICS MS1217 [63:41]
Experience Classicsonline

This disc, Michelle Fiala’s debut CD, contains an interesting programme of new music for oboe, with all the pieces heard here in their first commercial recordings.
 
The moto perpetuo opening of Rodney Roger’s Lessons of the Sky immediately commands attention, with Fiala’s beautifully phrased oboe heard over a toccata-like piano accompaniment. The oboe sound is rich and warm, and the melancholy middle section takes on a mournful tone. This is an enjoyable effort which works as an excellent show-piece for the oboe, with both lyrical and rhythmical sections. Fiala’s expressive oboe playing is supported well by pianist Donald Speer.
 
The first of two works on the disc by Bill Douglas, the Sonata for Oboe and Piano, is an eleven minute piece in three movements. The opening features a unison melody between piano - played here by the composer - over a gentle chordal accompaniment. The heavy syncopation demonstrates the influence of popular and latin music rhythms, and the structure is heavily influenced by jazz. The central movement brings to mind the music of Vaughan Williams, through the influence of British folk-song. There is a strong sense of British pastoral music meeting the gentle influence of American jazz, and it works well. The final movement is an upbeat dance-like piece, which has a strong pulse and is performed with energy.
 
Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Intercession for three oboes is performed here with style. At times, one could be forgiven for imagining that one player had multi-tracked the whole thing; the intonation is excellent and the match of tone quality is impressive. This is an astonishing piece of music, which makes imaginative use of the three instruments to powerful effect. These players - Michelle Fiala is joined here by Joseph Salvalaggio and Martin Schuring - make it seem easy. For me, the disc is worth buying for this track alone.
 
The second Bill Douglas piece, Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano seems almost superficial in comparison, but the contrast works well and the playing is light and jazzy. Within seconds, the listener is transported to a hotel lounge. It is a real delight to hear jazz played on oboe and bassoon in such a convincing way. The bassoon writing is particularly appealing, and it is pleasing to see new additions to the instrument’s repertoire such as this. This is a highly enjoyable piece which is well performed throughout. I imagine it would also be rewarding to perform, and I would urge players to seek it out.
 
Andrea Clearfield uses the unusual combination of oboe and double bass in a work composed for a married couple, the bassist and oboist from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Robert Kesselman and Jennifer Kuhns. The pieces take their inspiration from Pablo Neruda poems, and the music has sensuality and charm. Once again, the playing is excellent, and the musical ideas are communicated well.
 
Etude de réveil begins with a dialogue between oboe and clarinet, in a pointillistic style where the colours of the individual instruments help to shape the melodic line. The composer Fulvio Caldini explains his respect for Steve Reich in the programme notes, and the effect can be clearly heard as the music gains in complexity with the repetition of gradually evolving melodic lines. The effect is successful, and interest is maintained and developed throughout this brief work.
 
The final work on the disc is the curiously unusual Cats in the Kitchen by Phillip Bimstein. The accompaniment is said to include “meows, purrs, cracked eggs, sliced onions”, and a vast array of other bizarre things. There is undeniably an element of comedic fun about this work, which, despite the amusement, is created with imagination and an excellence in composition. The rhythms are catchy and the melody lines develop with a sense of inevitability. This is unlike anything I have ever heard before – and I love it. 
 
Any performer who makes the effort to disseminate new repertoire such as Michelle Fiala has done here is to be applauded. This is a wonderful collection of recent works, many of which will undoubtedly be new to most listeners. The standard of playing is consistently high, and the music is enjoyable and well written. Well worth listening to.
 
Carla Rees
 


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.