Rating: 3/5
Review:
Rather disappointing
I love a lot of Handel's instrumental music and the Baroque
oboe could be said to be one of my favourite instruments, too, but I'm afraid I
found this disc rather disappointing.
The programme is a selection of Handel's works for oboe plus
some soprano arias which also feature the oboe prominently. I was expecting to enjoy it immensely, but it
got rather wearing after a while. Partly
this is because it is pretty relentlessly in minor keys, which is absolutely
fine in moderate doses and shows the oboe's uniquely plangent tone very well,
but I could have done with a little more of Handel's more flowing, mellifluous
melodies to leaven it a little.
More seriously, the entire disc seems to be played in a forceful,
dramatic, in-your-face style which, while I'm all for vigour and individuality
in Baroque playing, really begins to feel as though I'm being harangued after a
while. All the arias are delivered in a
very declamatory style and even the gentler, major-key pieces seem very spiky and
lacking an essential sense of smooth flow.
This is a shame, because Xenia Löffler is plainly a very good oboist,
but I think she could use a few lessons in fluidity of line from someone like
Heniz Holliger or Frank de Bruine, and her ensemble need to rein in the attack
a little where appropriate.
All this is a personal view, of course. Others may disagree but for me this is not
one to listen to repeatedly.
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