Relative rarities among his output are Richard Strauss’ concertos, many written later in his life. This collection brings together works for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (the Duet Concertino) and the scintillating ‘Burleske’ for piano and orchestra. In addition to conducting the concertos, Ashkenazy also conducts the early tone poem ‘Aus Italien’ and Maazel’s humorous reading of ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’ with the Vienna Philharmonic is restored to the catalogue.
RICHARD STRAUSS
CD1
Burleske in D minor for Piano and Orchestra
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Herbert Blomstedt
Duet-Concertino for Clarinet & Bassoon*
Concerto for Oboe & Small Orchestra in D major**
Dimitri Ashkenazy, clarinet*
Kim Walker, bassoon*
Gordon Hunt, oboe**
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Vladimir Ashkenazy
CD2
Aus Italien, Op. 16
Cleveland Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Friedrich Gulda, piano
Willi Boskovsky, violin
Emanuel Brabec, cello
Wiener Philharmoniker
Lorin Maazel
Recording producers: David Mottley (Burleske); Michael Haas (Duet-Concertino, Oboe Concerto); Andrew Cornall (Aus Italien); Erik Smith (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme)
Recording engineers: Eike Bohm, Martin Atkinson (Burleske); Stanley Goodall (Duet-Concertino, Oboe Concerto); Colin Moorfoot (Aus Italien); Gordon Parry (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme)
Recording locations: Sofiensaal, Vienna, Austria, October 1966 (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme); Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland, USA, July 1990 (Aus Italien); Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany, January 1991 (Oboe Concerto), December 1991 (Duet-Concertino); Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany, September 2004 (Burleske)
‘Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Cleveland Orchestra (in 1990) are fine advocates for this Italy-inspired, four-movement work… Gordon Hunt brings spruce technique and plenty of feeling to the Oboe Concerto…the Burleske (effectively a whimsical piano concerto) finds Jean-Yves Thibaudet revelling in the music’s unpredictability…a nice mix of repertoire on this release’ Classical Source.com
‘a wonderfully ebullient account of Le bourgeois gentilhomme … an absolute gem’ International Record Review