Search - Krommer, Graf, Holliger :: Flute & Oboe Concertos

Sparkling witty performances

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 01/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the very best CDs available that display the ingenious, witty, humorous and fun style of music from Moravian composer Franz Krommer, who was born a peer to Mozart and outlived Beethoven. You can hear Krommer making the transition from the classical to romanitc periods in his music.



This CD combines three mature concertos for woodwinds -- the Op. 30 flute concerto, Op. 65 flute-oboe concerto and the Op. 52 oboe concerto. Players include famed oboist Heinz Holliger.



These recordings still sound good today, two and a half decades after their initial release. Each concerto benefits from a lively allegro in its first movement and the players include the exposition repeats. The flute-oboe concerto, the most mature of the group, has four movements -- allegro-adagio-menuetto, allegretto-allegro. This is Krommer's adjustment to mroe complex romantic style in allegro form evne though the composition owes much of its texture to Franz Josef Haydn.



Krommer is often thought of as a poor man's Mozart but this CD should heighten enthusiasm for that poor man. Nothing on it is as popular as his clarinet concerto or octets Op. 57, 73 and 78.



Still, it contains music of high invention modeled after the style of Viotti and informed by practice during the classical and romantic periods. The soloists are given many turns to show their brilliance and virtuosity, all the while in a musical environment bubbling over with friendliness and good spirits. It makes for an enjoyable hour anytime."