Lackluster Oboe Repertoire on MSR Classics

from the Amazon.com Web page for the album being discussed

Almost two weeks ago MSR Classics released Souvenirs, an album of music for oboe (performed by Theresa Delaplain) and piano (Tomoko Kashiwagi). Readers may recall that last month this site discussed a similar duo album bringing Sara Fraker (oboe and cor anglais) together with pianist Casey Robards. However, that album, entitled Botanica, had more of a political agenda, trying to serve as “a musical entry point into current conversations around environmental and social justice.” I am happy to report that Delaplain and Kashiwagi are more focused just on the music without dwelling on social and/or political overtones.

That said, while Delaplain certainly has a solid command over her instrument (whose difficulty earned it the epithet of “an ill wind that nobody blows good”), her choice of repertoire did not make for a particularly stimulating album. Her opening selection, Pedro Soler’s “Souvenir de Madrid,” made a solid case that, where salon entertainment was concerned, one really had to admire Gioachino Rossini for his skill in dishing out engaging tunes, even when they were not of his own composition. The two pieces by Merab Partskhladze were a bit better, perhaps because, for most listeners, they were somewhat more exotic; but they were still lacking in spirit. Edmund Rubbra’s sonata was well planned; but, for better or worse, it left me longing for the substance of Paul Hindemith.

Ultimately, most welcome was the opportunity to listen to Grażyna Bacewicz’ 1937 sonata. Bacewicz studied with Nadia Boulanger between 1932 and 1933. Boulanger clearly planted seeds that would not have taken root in Bacewicz’ Poland. At the same time, just being in Paris for those two years provided Bacewicz with perspectives of structure and rhetoric that inspired innovations that would grow in imaginative directions for the rest of her life. The oboe sonata has more than a few hints of Gallic wit, the one channel for expressiveness that allowed Delaplain to spread her wings.

On the other hand, “Commemoration: In Honor of Fallen Heroes” amounted to Robert K. Mueller throwing his hat into the post-9/11 ring. Structurally, each of the two movements seems to have been organized around a seventeenth-century German chorale tune. Whether or not that “flavor” of Protestantism served to signify the memory of 9/11, there was little in Mueller’s score to acknowledge seventeenth-century Germany or the Protestant faith.

By way of disclaimer, I should observe that, beyond any family connections, my knowledge of the oboe repertoire is due primarily to recordings of performances by Humbert Lucarelli. That repertoire was not particularly extensive, but it still had stimulating diversity. Delaplain’s album left me wondering if there were more interesting compositions in her repertoire that did not “make the cut” for this album.