Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-05-22 08:03
Hi there Bobo
you'll be pleased to hear that I ordered the Izotov cd a few weeks ago and my e-mail tells me that it's on its way. Very pleased about that. Have to be honest and say that , for me, the Daniel Italian concertos cd is an early one and I've never really liked it. The sound is a bit weird for me, and I have the feeling that he's playing on an old, possibly not so wonderful, Howarth oboe, hence a certain degree of un-eveness in tone and tuning. The Strauss is in an altogether different league - I think he's playing a Loree this time. I don't have the complete Klein Strauss recording, but have only heard snippets on Amazon, which is not enough to judge. As others have commented, I, too, was shocked by how strangely slow the opening mvt. is on his version. Without proper context of his complete version it's impossible to judge where he's going to take it next. But my initial feeling on just that 1 minute on Amazon left me thinking this is not the Strauss of my taste. Klein's technique has always marked him out as a major talent who performs with a real sense of bravura, but he loses me when the Showman takes over and the music plays second fiddle to his personality. An example is the YouTube video of him playing the Britten Temporal Variations. It's very, very exciting but I can barely listen to it. It's so driven - too fast, often too brash and strident, then suddenly something quiet beautiful and poignant. I don't understand what he's trying to achieve. I suspect from what little I have heard that Izotov will appeal to my sensibilities more. I have begun to take a greater interest in American oboe playing over the last year or two, and it's kind of exciting to see what's out there. I have always been a fan of the american cor anglais sound, there are loads of great players in your country, but I mostly hear them in orchestral contexts. I find very appealing a certain heightened melancholia in the american oboe sound - it seems very tinged with nostalgia, which appeals to me very much. And I like to familiarise myself with new repertoire, which is why it makes sense for me to scan the american composers' and oboists' output. I really enjoyed Elaine Douvas' cd of less than familiar pieces - it's very thoughtful and brings some of our less well-known, but wonderful repertoire to the fore.
I shall investigate the Klein Vivaldi recordings when I get back from tour. James
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