Han de Vries was born in The Hague in 1941 and became a pupil
successively of Jaap and then Haakon Stotijn, a famous dynasty of oboists.
After Haakon Stotijn’s death in 1964, de Vries replaced him as
principal oboe of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, a position he held for seven
years. Thereafter he balanced a prestigious solo career with membership of
the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He played much modern music, as well as
venturing into the past and playing baroque and classical oboes. He was soon
seen as embodying the very best features of the Dutch School, a hybrid
Franco-German one with an emphasis on a very personal, musical sound rather
than any flaunting of virtuosity.
This lavish and extensive nine-CD box set is augmented by two DVDs.
It displays a wide variety of music with an array of accompanying instrumentalists
and conductors. The vast majority of performances derive from Dutch
radio broadcasts though some - and I’ll note them where appropriate
- come from commercial sources.
The first CD is devoted to JS and CPE Bach. There is the Concerto
BWV 1053, live in 1991, a work that he had already recorded in the studio in
1966 and 1979. This traversal, conducted by Jan Willem, is leaner and
sprucer than those earlier readings. De Vries and Elly Ameling had made Bach
cantata recordings together before this 1985 tape of Cantata No.84
Ich
bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke, but it's always a delight to
hear her plush voice in this repertoire. In the Concerto for violin and
oboe, de Vries is joined by Alberto Lysy who also directs his Camerata,
possibly the reason why the orchestral pizzicati are consistently too loud.
The recording is rather 'woolly'. It was taped in the Concertgebouw in 1974.
CPE Bach's Concerto with John Lubbock conducting is easy-going and charming.
Disc two brings us tangier and more contemporary things. Malcolm
Arnold's concerto was written for Eugene Goossens but de Vries catches its
caprice, alternating promenade warmth with virtuositic panache. He's in his
element in Francaix's
L'Horloge de Flore where he follows these
little character sketches with great deftness. Bert Esser's Concerto for two
oboes sees de Vries joined by Bart Schneemann to play this tart and
pungently communicative work with selfless style, not least in the lonesome
calls of the central slow movement. Ibert's
Symphonie Concertante
with David Zinman directing (Concertgebouw, 1973) is an athletic and rather
beautiful concerto grosso, excitingly and thoughtfully played by all
concerned.
To combine Voormolen, Haydn, Andriessen, Penderecki and Cimarosa, as
mediated by Arthur Benjamin, takes some programming but such is the content
of disc 3. When Alexander Voormolen (1895-1980) wrote his 1933 Concerto for
two oboes (with de Vries and Schneemann again) he certainly didn't stint on
the contents of his stylistic knapsack: classical to lush ballad spirit runs
through it, and attractively too. Both oboists dig in with considerable
tonal allure and verve. There's a sturdy Haydn Concerto with Charles Groves
conducting the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980, but the
Cimarosa-Benjamin, with Lysy, comes from that same Bach concert with drab
sound. Louis Andriessen's
Anachronic II is cutting-edge pastiche
baroquerie, hence its inclusion, whilst the brief Penderecki
Capriccio is a taut and brusque piece.
Modernism is consolidated in disc four. Bruno Maderna's Oboe
Concerto No.3 was written for de Vries in 1973. Written when the composer
was close to death it is meditative, but timbrally fascinating, and reserves
outburst as though it was physical strength itself. John Carewe conducts the
BBC Symphony. Maxwell Davies's
Strathclyde Concerto No.1 is heard in
its Dutch premiere performance, conducted by the composer. It's nearly twice
as long as the Maderna but one doesn't feel that it has nearly as much to
say. Splendidly played, though. Morton Feldman is represented by his
Concerto of 1976, in a world premiere. It raises its voice only at the very
end. Finally in this disc, a blast of romanticism in the form of Richard
Strauss's 1945 Concerto: welcome lyricism.
Richard Rodney Bennett's taut, watchful 1969-70 Concerto is
conducted by Andrew Parrott. Voormolen returns in the shape of his 1938
Concerto, alternately jolly and deeply melodic. He had, in fact, a huge gift
for melody and for communicative spirit. The slow movement is apparently
well-known in Holland through its use in TV programmes and one can easily
understand it. Rudolf Escher (1912-1980) contributes a thoughtful,
convincing Trio. Meanwhile Peter Schat's
Thema opus for solo oboe,
guitars, organ and winds is very School of 1970. He seems to have dug James
Brown from the sound of it, with his two groups, or clusters, alternating in
a weird pop homage.
Chamber music fills disc six. The extract from Telemann comes from a
c.1970 EP. De Vries is joined by organist Albert de Klerk for Vivaldi's
Sonata in C, though this shouldn't be confused with the earlier 1976 LP
they'd recorded of it. Andriessen offers his
Romance in F, where
sentiment meets Stravinsky meets Rock ‘n’ Roll. Georges
Pfeiffer's
Musette has a touch of the Magyar about it but Julius
Röntgen offers a bigger challenge in his typically late-Romantic sonata
of 1918, where the oboist is joined by pianist Rudolf Jansen.
Nielsen's little
Fantasiestücke are excitingly done,
there's an unsettled-sounding work by Hans Kox from 2000 called
Lied ohne
Worte, in turn followed by Elliott Carter's Copland-indebted
Pastoral of 1930. Disc 7 is almost all Mozart. The Quintet in C
(based on the String Quintet in C minor) is live, recorded at Lockenhaus in
1986, but was released by Decca. The
Adagio and Rondo sees the glass
harmonica replaced by a harp played by Gerda Ockers. The Oboe Quartet is
played by members of the American String Quartet. Mozart's
Divertimento in B flat K439b No.1, deftly played, is followed by
Beethoven's Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, in a live Utrecht
performance from 1979.
Disc 8 is full of incident, something that applies to Stockhausen's
Zodiac for flute, oboe and piano, recorded in 2001. These brief
pieces have hypnotic qualities and are beautifully played by de Vries,
flautist Abbie de Quant and Rudolf Jansen. They reveal
inter alia
just what a flexible, fluent and intellectually rich performer de Vries is.
There are three more Maderna pieces, of which the tiny
Dialodia
(1971) is perhaps the most unmissable. Heinz Holliger's
Mobile shows
a direct Boulez influence, whilst Simon Bainbridge's
Music for Mel and
Nora (1979) is almost minimalist. Xenakis's 1976
Dmaathen is a
study in structure and rhythm. It's a ritualistic work, sounding almost
shamanistic and the theatrical multiphonics make a spectacular contribution
to its success. Willy Goudswaard is the intrepid percussionist who
accompanies de Vries.
There are only three pieces in the ninth disc. Pavel Haas's 1939
Suite is excellently played by the oboist and Jansen in 2001: terrific,
almost flamenco kicks in the central fast movement alongside predominantly
terse and uneasy writing elsewhere, though there's defiance in the evolving
Chorale. A big contrast comes via Mikis Theodorakis, whose
The Ballad of
Mauthausen was written in 1965. This mono studio recording was made in
1968 for VARA Radio. It's written for narrator, vocalist, and instrumental
support. The ethos is popular chanson, filmic and exceptionally attractive.
The translation is available but only via Oboe Classics' website, not in
their booklet. After the richly communicative Theodorakis, Stefan Wolpe's
Sonata (de Vries with pianist Polo de Haas in 1994) sounds doughty and a bit
disagreeable. Unfortunately, I've just never got Wolpe at all.
As if this wasn’t enough there are 2 DVDs. In the first we see
both concertos of Willem Breuker (1944-2010). The First features the
composer’s own collective band and was recorded in 1999. It’s
not wholly different from a jazz orchestral piece, reminiscent in part of
Eddie Sauter’s work in this area, with improvised solos from
front-line horns. The tune ‘You’d be so nice to come home
to’ is certainly kicked around a bit. . The Second concerto is twice
the length of the First and was taped the following year. Here H.K. Gruber
conducts. There are absurdist and comedia dell’arte aspects to this
concerto and it will spoil the surprises to relate what they are.
Let’s just say that Breuker casts his stylistic net wide: Mozart,
sirens, big band, film music, duck quacks, whinnying, a lost bagpiper, and
some 1950s swing. No, it’s not Bruckner. There’s also an
interview section, the first with Breuker, who is droll in typical Dutch
fashion, not least about ‘interaction’ between audience and
musicians. De Vries is also interviewed and he is a wholly practical,
down-to-earth musician with sensible thoughts on musical topics.
The bonus DVD lasts eighteen minutes. It features Maderna’s
Concerto No.3 in a performance given a few months before that with the BBC
Symphony and John Carewe in CD4. The tape originates from a Dutch arts
programme of the time. Here the composer himself conducts, and it all makes
for fascinating viewing, not least the still-handsome Maderna’s
perfect control of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He smiles, cajoles,
shushes and at one point, alarmingly and repeatedly, cocks an imaginary
pistol at the band. Not a man, one feels, to cross.
This is a handsome tribute to Han de Vries, with an excellently
annotated booklet, and with plenty to stimulate, intrigue and excite.
Jonathan Woolf
Track-listing
CD1
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Concerto in F after BWV1053 [20:06]
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam/Jan Willem de Vriend
Recorded July 1991
Cantata No.84 ‘Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem
Glücke’ BWV84 (1727) [14:43]
Elly Ameling (soprano)/Ronald Hoogeveen (violin)/Omroepkoor/Radio
Chamber Orchestra/Kenneth Montgomery
Recorded August 1985
Concerto in D, BWV1060 for oboe, violin and strings [14:35]
Alberto Lysy (violin)/Camerata Lysy/Alberto Lysy
Recorded May 1975
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Concerto in B flat, Wq 164 for oboe, strings and continuo (1765) [20:54]
Orchestra of St John’s, Smith Square/John Lubbock
Recorded November 1977
CD2
Malcolm ARNOLD (1921-2006)
Concerto for oboe and strings, Op.39 (1952) [13:17]
Radio Chamber Orchestra/David Atherton
Recorded November 1971
Jean FRANÇAIX (1912-1997)
L’Horloge de Flore, for oboe and orchestra (1959) [14:58]
Radio Chamber Orchestra/Ernest Bour
Recorded March 1981
Bert Esser (1913-?)
Concerto for two oboes and orchestra (1964, version 1981) [13:48]
Bart Schneemann (oboe)/Radio Chamber Orchestra/Pierre Stoll
Recorded May 1983
Jacques IBERT (1890-1962)
Symphonie Concertante for oboe and string orchestra (1948-49) [26:14]
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra/David Zinman
Recorded December 1973
CD3
Alexander VOORMOLEN (1895-1980)
Concerto for two oboes and orchestra (1933) [20:24]
Bart Schneemann (oboe)/Radio Chamber Orchestra/Pierre Stoll
Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Concerto in C, Hob VIIg:C1 (c.1790s) [21:30]
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Groves
Recorded December 1980
Domenico CIMAROSA (1749-1801)
Concerto in C for oboe and strings arr. Arthur Benjamin [11:11]
Camerata Lysy/Alberto Lysy
Recorded May 1975
Louis ANDRIESSEN (b.1939)
Anachronie II (1969) [13:15]
Netherlands Ballet Orchestra/Howard Williams
Recorded October 1994
Krzysztof PENDERECKI (b.1933)
Capriccio for oboe and eleven strings 91965)
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra/David Zinman
Recorded December 1971
CD4
Bruno MADERNA (1920-1973)
Concerto No.3 (1973) [13:51]
BBC Symphony Orchestra/John Carewe
Recorded October 1973
Peter Maxwell DAVIES (b.1934)
Strathclyde Concerto No.1, Op.128 (1987) [25:04]
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra/Peter Maxwell Davies
Recorded February 1989
Morton FELDMAN (1926-1987)
Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1976) [17:04]
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Jean Fournet
Recorded June 1976
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Concerto in D, for oboe and small orchestra (1945) [24:07]
Radio Chamber Orchestra/Matthias Bamert
Recorded April 1990
CD5
Richard Rodney BENNETT (1936-2012)
Concerto for oboe and string orchestra (1970) [17:09]
Radio Chamber Orchestra/Andrew Parrott
Recorded March 1986
Alexander VOORMOLEN (1895-1980)
Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1938) [25:40]
Radio Chamber Orchestra/David Porcelijn
Recorded December 1989
Rudolf ESCHER (1912-1980)
Trio d’anches Op.4 (1939 rev. 1941-42) [12:39]
George Pieterson (clarinet) and Joep Terwey (bassoon)
Recorded September 1979
Peter SCHAT (1935-2003)
Thema Op.2 (1970) [13:10]
Netherlands Wind Ensemble/Peter Schat
Recorded July 1970
CD6
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Overture - Suite No.2 (excerpts) [4:08]
Members of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble Carlo Ravelli (oboe); Joop
Meijer and Iman Soeteman (horns); Joep Terweij (bassoon)
Recorded c. 1970
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Sonata in C RV53 (1717) [10:00]
Louis ANDRIESSEN (b.1939)
Romance in F (1970) [5:57]
Members of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble Carlo Ravelli (oboe); Joop
Meijer and Iman Soeteman (horns); Joep Terweij (bassoon)
Recorded c. 1970
Georges PFEIFFER (1835-1908)
Musette Op.47 No.1 (Trois Famillets d’Album) [2:36]
George Pieterson (clarinet) and Joep Terwey (bassoon)
Recorded September 1979
César CUI (1835-1918)
Cinq petits duos Op.56 No.4; Nocturne (1897) [2:27]
Abbie de Quant (flute); Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded February 2001
Julius RONTGEN (1855-1932)
Sonata No.1 (1918) [14:33]
Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded February 1978
Carl NIELSEN (1865-1931)
Fantasiestücke Op.2 FS8 (1889) [5:20]
Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded February 1978
Hans KOX (b.1930)
Lied ohne Worte (2000) [4:53]
Mirel Ivancovici (cello)
Recorded February 2002
The silent cry (2001) [9:23]
Eeva Koskinen (violin); Mirel Ivancovici (cello): Frank van de Laar
(piano)
Recorded February 2002
Elliott CARTER (1908-2012)
Pastoral (1940)
Boris Zarankin (piano)
Recorded August 1989
CD7
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Quintet in C, K406 (version for oboe and strings) (1782-87)
Philip Hirschhorn (violin): Vladimir Mendelssohn and Neithart Resa
(violas); Julius Berger (cello)
Recorded July 1986
Adagio and Rondo in C, K617 (1791) [11:55]
Paul Verhey (flute): Jürgen Kussmaul (viola): Wouter
Möller (cello): Gerda Ocjers (harp)
Recorded November 1983
Quartet in F, K370 91781) [14:22]
Members of the American String Quartet: Laurie Carney (violin):
Daniel Avshalomov (viola): David Gener (cello)
Recorded January 1988
Divertimento in B flat, K439b No.1 (K.Anh.229/1) [13:22]
Jürgen Kussmaul (viola): Wouter Möller (cello)
Recorded November 1983
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (c.1795) [10:25]
George Pieterson (clarinet); Joep Terwey (bassoon)
Recorded September 1979
CD8
Karlheinz STOCKHAUSEN (1928-2007)
From Tierkreis (Zodiac) (1974-83) [13:50]
Abbie de Quant (flute): Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded February 2001
Bruno MADERNA (1920-73)
Solo (1971) [4:41]
Recorded 1978
Auolia per Lothar (1965) [4:41]
Jan Goudswaard (guitar)
Recorded February 1978
Dialodia (1971) [2:27]
Koos Verheul (flute)
Recorded June 1983
Serenata per un satellite (1969) [5:35]
Jan Goudswaard (guitar): Henk Guittart (viola); Theo Olof (violin):
Koos Verheul (flute)
Recorded June 1983
Heinz HOLLIGER (b.1939)
Mobile for oboe and harp (1962) [5:48]
Gerda Ockers (harp)
Recorded November 1983
Guus JANSSEN (b.1951)
Nevenzon (Phantom Sun) (2000) [10:07]
Abbie de Quant (flute); Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded February 2001
Simon BAINBRIDGE (b.1952)
Music for Mel and Nora (1979) [6:44]
Polo de Haas (piano)
Recorded March 1994
Iannis XENAKIS (1922-2001)
Dmaathen (1976) [10:19]
Willy Goudswaard (percussion)
Recorded November 1979
CD9
Pavel HAAS (1899-1944)
Suite Op.17 (1939) [16:02]
Rudolf Jansen (piano)
Recorded 2001
Mikis THEODORAKIS (b.1925)
The Ballad of Mauthausen (1965) [25:37]
Liesbeth List (vocals): Ton Lutz (narrator); Trio Louis van Dijk
Recorded April 1968
Stefan WOLPE (1902-1972)
Sonata Op.31 (1937-41) [23:35]
Polo de Haas (piano)
Recorded March 1994
DVDs
DVD 1.Concertos and Interviews: Willem Breuker (1944-2010) Oboe
Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 [67:00]
DVD 2. Bruno Maderna; Oboe Concerto No.3 [17:55]
