While Bach himself would have recognized every bar of music contained in this programme of concertos and sinfonias, it is unlikely that he would have acknowledged all that is here as representative of his original intentions. Would he have voiced any protest? Who knows, but I suspect not. Ever practical and ever prepared for the opportunity or necessity for ‘parody’, Bach would probably have given oboist Anthony Robson a nod of approval and doubtless, too, some precious words of advice. As it is, Robson has had to get on with the business of arranging the two oboe/oboe d’amore concertos on this disc without the benefit either of Bach’s inside knowledge or his advice. This he has done by drawing from sections, instrumental and vocal, of cantatas and from movements of concertos preserved in versions for other instruments. Other oboe players and scholars have done the same though none has reached identical conclusions with another. Bach himself, of course, would have been thoroughly bemused by our BWV catalogue numbers as, indeed, was I to learn that the last movement of the D major Concerto (BWV1053a) derives from a section of the Cantata, BWV47. This should read BWV49, but the mistake occurs both on the title-page of the booklet and in Anthony Robson’s otherwise usefully informative note.
Where the Concerto in A minor (BWV1044) is concerned fewer problems confront the performer. While no autograph exists, the arrangement from two of Bach’s solo keyboard works (BWV894 and BWV527) is contemporaneous with Bach’s own time at Leipzig, and more specifically, perhaps, with his early directorship of a largely student Collegium Musicum founded by Telemann at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The two poignantly affecting sinfonias from sacred cantatas of Bach’s Weimar years pose no problem, since they are preserved in autograph. Here they are played in their early versions rather than in the later Leipzig ones, differences between the two being essentially ones of pitch rather than instrumentation or notation.
The level of playing and of interpretation is, as we have come to expect of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, fairly consistently elevated. I did find the string tone a little edgy at times, especially in the A minor piece, but personal taste has much to do with that. Lisa Beznosiuk’s limpid flute playing on the other hand, seldom fails to please and comes over wonderfully well on this occasion. In the two oboe concertos Robson copes splendidly though even he cannot always conceal discomfort in some of the brutally demanding passagework. Bach’s disdain for anything so commonplace as breathing, together with the wide-ranging nature of melodic contours which explore those parts of the instrument in which some other composers, perhaps prudently, seldom ventured, exact a high price from the performer. All of which brings us full circle in a speculative game which has proved, in this instance, well worth playing.
To sum up, this is a fascinating and mainly satisfying release. Bach enthusiasts can be directed towards it without hesitation, while oboists will require no further commendation from me. The arrangements, as I have intimated, are mainly convincing and the recorded sound excellent.'