COMPOSERS: Barbiroll,Bellini,Cimarosa & A Benjamin,Corelli,Fiorillo,Righini
LABELS: Naxos
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: Italian Oboe Concertos
WORKS: Concertos by Cimarosa (arr. A Benjamin), Bellini, Righini, Fiorillo, Corelli (arr. Barbirolli) & Barbirolli
PERFORMER: Anthony Camden, Julia Girdwood (oboe) City of London Sinfonia/Nicholas Ward
CATALOGUE NO: 8.553433
Anthony Camden’s pleasingly varied programme of oboe concertos will delight aspiring practitioners of the instrument, either current or erstwhile, for he includes John Barbirolli’s orchestral arrangement of five Corelli violin sonata movements for oboe and strings, here transposed from F to A major, as well as Arthur Benjamin’s similarly arranged pieces by Cimarosa. These were, and probably still are, the staple diet of oboe players’ salad days, but are nonetheless attractive for that.
Of greater interest, and calling for a higher level of virtuosity, are Bellini’s Oboe Concerto and two works by composers well off the beaten track. The Righini piece, in one movement only, is slight, while the Sinfonia concertante by Fiorillo is more substantial and scored for two oboes with an orchestra of horns and strings. In this, Camden is joined by oboist Julia Girdwood. An attractive, affectionately played programme. Nicholas Anderson