Oboe Concertos and Sonatas

Regis Records RRC 1106 1 CD budget price Recorded in 1994 Re-issued in 2002

Concerto No 1 for Oboe in B flat major (HWV 302a) Concerto No 2 for Oboe in B flat major (HWV 301) Concerto No 3 for Oboe in G minor (HWV 287) Sonata for Oboe and Continuo in F major (HWV 363a) Sonata for Oboe and Continuo in G minor (HWV 404) Sonata for Oboe and Continuo ("Fitzwilliam") in B flat major (HWV 357) Sonata for Oboe and Continuo in C minor (HWV 366) Sonata for Violins and Continuo in G minor, Op1 No 6 (HWV 364a) Sarah Francis (oboe) London Harpsichord Ensemble (on modern instruments) Jane Dodd Originally released on the Unicorn-Kanchana Records label (DKP 9153)

Here is an anthology, on modern instruments, of oboe music by Handel. In fact, the attribution of some pieces to Handel is doubtful (concertos HWV 301 and 287), the concerto HWV 302a could result from an assemblage by Handel’s publisher John Walsh, and the sonata HWV 364a was certainly composed for another instrument and not by Handel. The pieces that are authentic Handel often used as sources for borrowings. This recording is nicely played and almost always pleasant, but it is rarely gripping. In the concertos the oboe sounds quite tiny and the harpsichord quite scrappy. The sonatas are much more satisfying: Sarah Francis’s playing is much warmer and not devoid of lyricism.

© Philippe Gelinaud - February 2003