Tuesday 2 February 2010

Bach - Double Oboe & Violin Concerto [Hahn & Vogel/Kahane-Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra]

The American Hilary Hahn has made a fabulous album here, she was nearly 23 when she recorded this, each of the four works is a gem, in a wonderfully clear recording, ideally using a Chamber Orchestra, you can hear all the instruments in a realistic spatial dimension, Bach would have been thrilled with the interpretation.

A Double Concerto for a wind and a stringed instrument is a great idea, it's a wonder that the big classical and romantic era Composers didn't create Concertos for various combinations of duets, the Oboe and Violin work really well together.

This time i was enchanted by the lovely slow middle movement Adagio, sounding like it's suspended in space and time, the gorgeous Oboe melody comes in right at the beginning, and the Violin takes up the tune after a short while, the two swap and overlap each other in a fugue like elegy, while the strings play a pizzicato beat like gentle raindrops, really soothing and calming.

Here's Nigel Kennedy & Aisling Casey playing the Adagio on YouTube.