Buyers should look carefully at the program for this release by oboist Albrecht Mayer and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, which does not contain Mozart's single completed concerto for oboe and orchestra, the Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314. The reason seems to be that Mayer has recorded that work elsewhere. It does, however, contain an assortment of other attractive pieces, most of them little known, and Mayer is a formidable player. On the list is a new completion of the first movement of an unfinished Oboe Concerto in F major, K. 293, by Gotthard Odermatt, a lovely thing where Mayer's subtle handling of the solo instrument's first entrance is pretty much worth the price of admission by itself. The rest of the music is adapted for the oboe. One might not think of the motet Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618, as an oboe piece, but this little version has the potential to become a major hit in Mayer's songful treatment. The Concerto for flute, harp, and orchestra, K. 299, is adapted for the odd combination of oboe and harpsichord. In many recordings of this work, the harp is difficult to hear; as it happens, the harpsichord balance is also tricky for the musicians and engineers here, but the reading is fresh and musical. There's also an adaptation of the Rondo in C major for violin and orchestra, K. 373, and oboe treatments of various vocal pieces, and nothing is less than elegant. A fine release by an emerging star oboist.
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