The Oboe occupies a privileged position
in Vivaldi's chamber works. The modest number of sonatas explicitly
written for the instrument is more than made up for by the prime role
accorded to it in delightful concerti da camera and in a number of
experimental pieces composed for the Pieta school. Moreover, various
sonatas preserved in Dresden with no indication as to the instruments they
intended for look as is they might be assignable to the oboe on account of
their technical features and register.
The recital presented here offers a comprehensive and musicologically
engaging overview of this field as a whole. The dazzling RV 53 sonata, its
Dresden cousins RV 28 & 34 and the concerto RV 106 (with modified
orchestration) are presented here alongside the Sonata a quattro
RV 779 and the Quadro RV 801, two scores that defy
classification and bear witness to Vivaldi's explorations of instrumental
timbres and interrelationships at his Venetian laboratory. More
originally, the performers also offer a violin and oboe version of the
second sonata in the opus 1 set (RV 67). originally intended for two
violins though lending themselves well to other instrumentation, as
Michael Talbot reminds us in his excellent notes.
Unfortunately the conscientious reading brought to us by Gail Hennessy,
Nicholas Parle and their fellow musicians is not on a par with their
meticulous musicological approach. The overly faint hearted oboe and the
prim-and=proper violin set a reserved tone for the respectable but
soulless ensemble. Scant verve is brought to the rendering of these
scintillating works.
