Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra

I went through a phase, about eight years ago, when I downloaded (via less than fully legal means) a great quantity of classical music: so much of it, that I spent a full year just listening to it all, at the rate of an hour or two a day. One of the composers whose work caught my ear during that time was Bohislav Martinů, with pieces like his Nonets and the wonderful 'Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano' standing out in particular.

Afterwards, trying to do the right thing, I began buying some of his music on CD, and, on a few occasions, was lucky enough to turn up an old LP of his work at a charity shop. The present disc, combining Martinů's 'Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra' with Richard Strauss's Oboe Concerto, I found at the Oxfam Books & Music shop in Cardiff. In Discogs I have my copy listed as from the original 1963 pressing, but it could well be a later re-issue. The soloist is František Hanták, accompanied by the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Martin Turnovský (for the Martinů) and Jaroslav Vogel (for the Strauss).

I seldom play the Strauss piece, but much enjoy Martinů's, which is bright, breezy & agreeably concise, running to about sixteen minutes. "The score reveals the influence of Igor Stravinsky, including a quotation of a motif from Petrushka in the second movement" says Wikipedia. Unusually, the orchestral line-up for the Concerto includes a piano - it seems that most of my favourite Martinů pieces feature piano: the Violin Sonata No. 3; the Piano Trios; the Piano Quartet & Quintets; Les Rondes; the abovementioned Fantasia and the Nonet No. 1, etc.

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