Alexei Ogrintchouk W.A. MOZART Oboe Concerto - Quartet - Sonata

Chamber recordings of major repertory on modern instruments is becoming increasingly rare on recordings, but Russian-born oboist Alexeï Ogrintchouk shows there's still considerable life in the genre with this selection of Mozart works for oboe. The underperformed Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370, is a real highlight here. This work blends sparkling melody and virtuosity (it was composed for a famed oboist of Mozart's time) in a way that clearly looks forward to, and is nearly on a par with, the clarinet masterpieces of Mozart's last years, and Ogrintchouk plays it to the hilt in a performance that remains relaxed despite the very high technical demands placed on the soloist. The Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314, probably better known in its D major version for flute and orchestra, is very nearly as good. There was no reason for BIS' engineers to mike Ogrintchouk quite so closely in the large Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, picking up a good number of clicking keys, but in both the quartet and the concerto he serves as a talented leader (and conductor in the concerto, which is rare for wind players), generating ensemble work well beyond the norm in each case. The transcription of the Violin Sonata in B flat major, K. 378, is not quite so successful, even if, as the notes point out, this work was transcribed for various instruments going back to Mozart's own time. The piano is the dominant partner in the work, and the odd timbre of the oboe makes a slightly strange impression as an accompanying instrument. There is, however, nothing to complain about in any of the performances by Ogrintchouk, the lead oboist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and clearly both a technically and interpretively gifted player. The recording of the Oboe Quartet here is worth the price of admission by itself. (James Manheim)

Sergej Krylov / Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra VIVALDI The Four Seasons

Violinist Sergej Krylov has worked with some of the biggest names in music. In 2008 he was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, which (together with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vilnius String Quartet) has its home at the National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius. Since then he has performed regularly in the dual role of soloist and conductor and excels in a wide repertoire ranging from the baroque to contemporary compositions.

In 2016, Deutsche Grammophon has released a first CD of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the double role of soloist and conductor with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra.

DOBRINKA TABAKOVA String Paths

ECM New Series presents the first full album devoted to the music of Dobrinka Tabakova, a composer born in Bulgaria in 1980 but raised from a young age in London and educated there. In Tabakova’s music – richly melodic, texturally sensuous, often emotionally radiant – there resides the new and the familiar, or rather the familiar within the new, and vice versa; there are the spirits of East and West coursing through the pieces, usually hand in hand; and just as the composer’s technical virtuosity is apparent, she possesses a desire, and a talent, for direct communication that can be heard in virtually every measure. The recording features Tabakova’s Concerto for Cello and Strings, plus the Rameau-channelling Suite in Old Style for viola and chamber orchestra. Then there are three chamber works: the string trio Insight, the string septet Such Different Paths and a trio for violin, accordion and double-bass, Frozen River Flows. The performers include violinist Janine Jansen and several of Tabakova’s former conservatory colleagues: violinist Roman Mints, violist-conductor Maxim Rysanov and cellist Kristina Blaumane, principal with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tabakova’s music has a particularly 21st-century feel for its broad palette – its free mix of tonality and modality, of folk-music influence and the example of past masters. Her ECM debut came about after a happenstance meeting of the composer with label founder-producer Manfred Eicher at the Lockenhaus Festival in Austria, where Rysanov was performing Tabakova’s Suite in Old Style (part of a triptych of suites she has written for him, along with a concerto). The resulting album presents Tabakova works from 2002 through 2008. (ECM Records)