Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 & Bassoon Concerto; R. Strauss: Oboe Concerto

Seiji Ozawa, Mito Chamber Orchestra

Shigenori Kudo, flute; Dag Jensen, bassoon; Fumiaki Miyamot, oboe

Sony Classical SK 61884

Playing Time: 75:49

Marvin Segal

The flute concerto on this disk was written for a Dutch amateur flutist called De Jean, who, having made a fortune in trade, commissioned Mozart to write two such concertos and some flute quartets. Mozart, however, whether through laziness or because there is some truth to the stories of his aversion to writing for the flute, produced only one of the expected quartets and the concerto presented here, fobbing off a transcription of his oboe concerto as a second flute concerto.

If Mozart was in fact averse to writing for the flute, there is no evidence of it in this beautiful concerto. The playing of Shigenori Kudo, who, like the other soloists on this disk, is a member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra, is smooth and seamless, displaying fine phrasing and luminous tone. Seiji Ozawa and the orchestra perform the orchestral part with great energy and attention to detail.

The bassoon concerto - written when Mozart was eighteen years old and had therefore been composing for only ten years or so - takes full advantage of the instrument's qualities, and Dag Jensen's wonderful rendering comprises the most beautiful solo playing on this disk.

The Richard Strauss oboe concerto, with its more astringent harmonies and brighter orchestral colours, comes as a cool and refreshing dessert after the delicious but very familiar main course of Mozart. The notes accompanying the disk suggest that the concerto was conceived as a result of Strauss having struck up a friendship with oboist John De Lancie, a corporal stationed with the American occupying forces near Strauss' home after World -War II. The work was premiered by another oboist, but De Lancie, later principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, received the right to perform it anywhere in the USA. Fumiaki Miyamoto gives a smooth and spirited account of the piece.

It might be said that the relatively lightweight nature of these works is no great challenge for a conductor of Ozawa's stature, but the attention to phrasing and the clarity of orchestral detail which emerge throughout make it clear that this was no walk-through, but a brilliantly-conceived partnership with the soloists, a partnership that forms a rock-solid foundation for each of the performances. The playing of the orchestra is everything one could ask of a first-rate chamber group, while the high standard of sound recording allows full appreciation of all the music on this delightful disk.