Aalborg SO, Owain Arwel Hughes - Vagn Holmboe: Concertos for Piano, Clarinet, and Oboe; Beatus Parvo (2004)

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Aalborg SO, Owain Arwel Hughes - Vagn Holmboe: Concertos for Piano, Clarinet, and Oboe; Beatus Parvo (2004)

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Something of Vagn Holmboe's approach to writing concertos may be discerned in his numeration: they are not grouped according to the solo instrument (e.g., Piano Concerto No. 1), but counted merely as Concertos in the sequence of their composition, regardless of the featured instruments. This suggests that the soloist's role is somewhat altered: still central as a leading part, but frequently incorporated into the orchestral mass as a coloristic instrument among many others. The Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra, Op. 17 (1939), clearly demonstrates Holmboe's procedure, for the piano switches back and forth between lyrical solos and more emphatically rhythmic passages as a percussion instrument. Holmboe's Concerto No. 3 for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 21 (1940-1942), also presents interesting mixtures of the instrument's distinctive tone with other timbres, most strikingly with the brass section. The Concerto No. 7 for oboe and orchestra, Op. 37 (1944-1945), is most beguiling in the many chamber-like, concertino combinations of the oboe with other woodwinds. Pianist Noriko Ogawa, clarinetist Martin Frost, and oboist Gordon Hunt strike the right balance with conductor Owain Arwel Hughes and the Ålborg Symphony Orchestra, since all give prominence to the leading part where Holmboe indicates, but equal attention to the ever-shifting background textures.

Review by Blair Sanderson, Allmusic.com

A word about nomenclature. Holmboe composed 13 chamber concertos between 1939 and 1956 as a series with small-orchestral accompaniment, similar but not so homogeneous a set as Hindemith’s Kammermusiken. Much later the composer renamed them just concerti, which is how BIS in its continuing series (coupled with other concertante works; this is the third issue) refers to them. Dacapo’s integral set of the 13 curiously retained the chamber tag.

Irrespective of titles, they make a fine set. As I wrote of Dacapo’s initial release, the concertos are extremely diverse and may surprise those who know only the symphonies and quartets. Hannu Koivula’s nicely paced and well-thought-through interpretations for Dacapo, although a touch studio-bound, set a formidable standard to follow. As with the Brass and Orchestral Concertos (3/97, 2/04), Owain Arwel Hughes more than rises to that challenge with tempi usually a touch swifter and more urgent, and the recorded sound more resonant, giving a warmer sound picture of each work.

This is particularly true in the First Concerto for piano, strings and timpani, where Ogawa is more sympathetically placed and not recessed as was Anne Oland. Ogawa’s technique is also the stronger and she shapes Holmboe’s neo-romantic lines even more splendidly than her rival.

In the Clarinet and Oboe Concertos honours are a little more even, though I think Martin Fröst and Gordon Hunt just shade the decision. There’s a ‘bigness’ to Fröst’s tone that Niels Thomsen cannot quite match and Hunt’s incisive playing strikes as me as just about perfect. There is nothing inadequate about the Dacapo issues, mind you, but if you are in two minds about buying this newcomer consider the bonus of Holmboe’s charming cantata Beatus parvo, a kind of concerto for amateur forces full of that marvellous luminosity that characterised so much of his music in his last decades. Strongly recommended.

Review by Guy Rickards

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Aalborg SO, Owain Arwel Hughes - Vagn Holmboe: Concertos for Piano, Clarinet, and Oboe; Beatus Parvo (2004)

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Aalborg SO, Owain Arwel Hughes - Vagn Holmboe: Concertos for Piano, Clarinet, and Oboe; Beatus Parvo (2004)

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