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Recordings to celebrate the world of the oboe



 the oboe in Mozart
      chamber music CC2007
CD DETAILS
the oboe in Mozart chamber music CD cover
More Mozart here: Han de Vries CD cover music of oboe, horn & piano CD cover Single composer CD: Tres Francaix CD cover


THE MUSIC AND SOUND CLIPS
(Click underlined movements to hear MP3 format sound clips.)

The Ambache Chamber Ensemble recording K452, February 2003
JEREMY POLMEAR (oboe & cor anglais)
and the AMBACHE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE



Oboe Quartet in F, K370 (1781)
Allegro - Adagio - Rondeau, allegro

Quintet in C, K617 (1791)
Adagio - Rondeau, allegretto

Adagio, K580a (1788?)
Adagio

Sonata in F, K376/K374d (1781)
Allegro - Andante - Rondeau, allegretto grazioso

Quintet for winds and piano in E flat, K452 (1784)
Largo; Allegro moderato - Larghetto - Allegretto

Total CD Time: 74:38

The CD booklet contains a 2,000-word essay by Diana Ambache on the music in the CD in English, Italian and German. The photos include more from the K452 recording session and two entries from Mozart's Catalogue written in his own hand.

Human feeling is always at the centre of Mozart's music, and the collection of oboe works here illustrates this with colour and variety. As ever, Mozart excpresses everything from exuberant joy to deep melancholy, with a profound understanding of the expression of emotion. His paradoxes intrigue us; his humour entertains us; he seduces us with his beauty -and the oboe is an excellent vehicle for all this. The five works on the CD include three originally written for the oboe and two fine adaptations.

The year 1781 was an eventful one for Mozart. As well as having the première of 'Idomineo' on his 25th birthday, he also wrote the Oboe Quartet and Sonata featured here, as well as the Concerto for Two Pianos, K365. In May he had the now famous row with his patron Archbishop Collerado, which resulted in his move to Vienna and a new life as a freelance musician.
© 2003 Diana Ambache


photo of Jeremy Polmear by Peter Wiggins
Jeremy Polmear, the founder of Oboe Classics, is a freelance musician who has performed as a guest player with a number of London's chamber and ballet orchestras including the City of London Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players, Lontano, English National Ballet and The Ambache. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and after a Science degree at Cambridge University he spent some time with IBM before turning to music as a career.

With the pianist Diana Ambache he formed the Polmear Ambache Duo in 1977 for a British Council tour of India. They have since performed in thirty three countries on five continents, including programmes of Words and Music in the Gulf with Billie Whitelaw, in Australia with Susannah York and around the UK with Jenny Agutter. London appearances have included recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room. They also run sessions for businesses and business school MBA courses, using the Arts as a management training tool.

Jeremy has made several BBC broadcasts of chamber music. His previous recording for Oboe Classics, music by Robert and Clara Schumann, has been designated the Benchmark Recording for this repertoire by the BBC Music Magazine. He has also made two recordings on the Meridian label of 19th century virtuoso oboe music, and one for Unicorn-Kanchana of mid-20th century English music.

He also plays the alto saxophone, and is the designer of four web sites.


logo of the Ambache Chamber Ensemble
Sophie Langdon (violin) is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and leader of the Fourth Dimension String Quartet. She has played concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Martin Outram (viola) is a member of the celebrated Maggini String Quartet and a Professor of the Royal Academy of Music. He has given important broadcast premières of works for solo viola by Benjamin Britten and Peter Maxwell-Davis.
Susan Dorey (cello) is principal cello with the City of London Sinfonia, and a member of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Previously she played with Trio Zingara and Kent Opera.
Helen Keen (flute) is a founder member of the Endymion Ensemble, and a member of the London Mozart Players and the Orchestra of St John's. She plays frequently as guest principal flute with the London Sinfonietta, and the RPO and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Joan Enric Lluna (clarinet) has recorded the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra and other European Orchestras. He has performed at Festivals in Bath, London, Paris and Perth.
Brian Sewell (bassoon) played for 30 years as Principal Bassoon of the Orchestra of St John's. He has performed on over 250 recordings with all the major London symphony, chamber and period orchestras. He is also a founder member of the Professional Speakers Association.
Susan Dent (horn) specialises in all types of early horns. She is principal horn of the Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique and the English Baroque Soloists. Outside period performance, Susan plays in the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Endymion Ensemble.

Since its formation in 1984 the Ambache Chamber Ensemble has included music by Mozart in all their concerts. They function both as an ensemble and a chamber orchestra, and have performed twenty of Mozart's piano concertos. The press frequently comment on their exceptional rapport, with "playing full of life and a rare, exuberant spirit" (Daily Telegraph).

They give regular London concerts at St John's Smith Square, and have made four National Tours sponsored by the Arts Council of England. They have toured America and the Far East, with appearances on television in Hong Kong and Korea.

Diana Ambache (piano) has pioneered the revival of the music of women composers of the last 250 years, and with the group has given over 30 premières of their music. She was short listed for the European Women of Achievement Awards 2002 for this work.

Other recordings by the orchestra and ensemble include chamber music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Louise Farrenc. They were the featured musicians on the cover CD for the May 1996 issue of BBC Music Magazine. Their CD of Amy Beach chamber music won a Rosette in the Penguin Guide to CDs 2002, and one of chamber music by Respighi was described by the Independent as "a lovely disc".

www.womenof note.co.uk.

Press Comment

"The enterprising Oboe Classics label continues its confident progress through the repertoire with a unique recording of all Mozart's chamber music featuring the oboe - and some that doesn't, but transfers very naturally, as in the case of the F major violin sonata. 'Almost as if he had a wind instrument in mind', says Jeremy Polmear, whose beguiling performance with Diana Ambache is entirely persuasive. A must for oboe-philes; a rare treat for Mozartians." Anthony Holden, Observer

"Jeremy Polmear is a fine oboist with a lovely tone and an agile technique, and the members of the Ambache Chamber Ensemble are in all ways his equal in elegance and enthusiasm. And the sound is as discrete and refined as the playing and the music." James Leonard, All Music Guide, USA

"This CD is a joyous example of first class music making by a team of musicians whose delight in the music is matched by their involvement in their instruments... there are a couple of delightful surprises, notably the ensemble's beautiful performance of the Adagio and Jeremy Polmear's exceptionally enjoyable performance on the oboe of the F major Violin Sonata, which certainly seems equally ideal on the wind instrument." Denby Richards, Musical Opinion

"The Oboe Quartet presents Jeremy Polmear's admirable musicianship and agile technique in excellent balance. The first movement communicates his obvious pleasure in performing this marvellous music... K580a is likely to have been intended for clarinet and three basset horns. This music, however, seems so ideally suited to this medium and to the persuasively mellifluous tones of Jeremy Polmear's cor anglais. By the final repeat of the main cantabile melody he seems to have found even more sensitivity..." Clive Fairbairn, Double Reed News, UK

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