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CLASSICAL OBOE CONCERTOS MOZART · HOFMANN FERLENDIS · DITTERS VON DITTERSDORF
Andrius Puskunigis oboe/oboe d’amore St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra Donatas Katkus
Our aim has been to compile a recording of four concertos for oboe and oboe d’amore that represent the classic Viennese style. Because they were composed in the same years, it is not immediately evident to the ear which concerto was composed by whom, although Mozart’s is effectively the most clearly recognizable. With the exception of Mozart, in fact, the composers are relatively unknown, which is why the concertos presented here are rarely played and only recorded within the context of original works for oboe and oboe d’amore. From around 1750, the oboe, an instrument hitherto largely used in chamber and church music, began to make its way into concert halls, and to be played by virtuoso soloists. At the same time, its construction also evolved, with the conic section becoming narrower so as to increase the high register. If at this point the soloist’s melody line appears to be simpler than that of violin concertos, for example, it is because in Mozart’s day the oboe comprised only two keys, which meant that it’s technical range was still fairly limited. Playing these concertos must have been a real challenge!
Ferlendis: Oboe Concerto in F No.1 There are about one hundred classical oboe concertos, most of which were composed by oboists hoping to promote appreciation of their own skills. One of them was Giuseppe Ferlendis, who was born in Bergamo (Italy) in 1755 and died in 1802 or 1810 in Lisbon (Portugal). Written around 1777, the work is delightful to play, with a lyrical first movement, and a distinctly humorous third movement. The son of a music teacher who had made a name for himself as a virtuoso oboe and cor anglais player, at the age of twenty-two Ferlendis was appointed first oboe in the orchestra of the Court Chapel in Salzburg, where he became acquainted with the Mozarts (Leopold, deputy Kappelmeister, and Wolfgang Amadeus, Konzertmeister and composer), earning 540 Florins for his efforts, which was better than Wolfgang’s 500! It was for Ferlendis that Mozart wrote the Oboe Concerto in C major KV314 included in this recording. 2
Ferlendis only maintained this post for slightly over a year, from April 1777 to June 1778, by which time he had become what Leopold Mozart described as “the favourite among musicians”. At all events, during this period he also introduced improvements to the cor anglais, since those he found at the Salzburg court were unplayable. Thereafter he travelled a great deal, to Brescia, Venice, London and Lisbon. His last oboe concerto was composed in 1795 in London and dedicated to Joseph Haydn, who mentioned in his notebook that the oboist he heard in London on 4 May 1795 “blew averagely”. Ferlendis also composed other works for oboe and cor anglais, including sonatas, duets, trios, quartets, two other oboe concertos in C major, recently identified, and twelve divertimenti for two clarinets.
Hofmann: Oboe Concerto in C (Badley C2) Leopold Hofmann (1738-1793) was born, lived his whole life and died in Vienna, a city with an intense cultural life. His teacher for counterpoint and the harpsichord was Georg Christoph Wagenseil, who enjoyed a great reputation in Vienna. Hofmann also studied the violin, possibly with Giuseppe Trani, who had also taught Dittersdorf. By profession a church musician, Hofmann also wrote a great deal of instrumental music, bringing him fame that spread well beyond the confines of Austria. On 9 May 1791, Mozart became his unpaid deputy as chorus master at Saint-Etienne Cathedral in Vienna, a post held by Hofmann since 1774. Between the end of the 1750s and the mid 1770s, Hofmann composed around sixty concertos for various solo instruments. Some of them were probably written for himself or his pupils, in particular those for piano and violin; others may have been the fruit of commissions on the part of enthusiastic amateur musicians. The musicologist Allan Badley has argued that the C2 Concerto was originally written for the oboe because three copies of it have survived, and no version for flute has come to light. It was composed in the 1770s, no later than 1780, which marked the death of one of the owners of the manuscripts, Hofmusikus Franz Xaver Fürall, oboist at the Oettingen-Wallerstein court. 3
Dittersdorf: Oboe d’amore Concerto in A Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, who was born in Vienna in 1739 and died in Bohemia in 1799, also wrote his Concerto for oboe d’amore around 1770. It is one of the very few concertos for this instrument of the classical period, and the only one composed by Dittersdorf, because during those years the demand for the gentle, sweet sonority of the oboe d’amore was declining. By contrast, the composers of the first half of the 18th century, especially those working in Germany (J.S. Bach, Telemann, Graupner, Graun, Heinchen), had written masterpieces for the instrument. A highly talented, precocious violinist, Dittersdorf remains an important composer of the classical period. His oeuvre includes various concertos, of which 5 for oboe, 2 for double bass and 1 for viola, at least 120 symphonies, chamber music and vocal music that comprises cantatas, oratorios and sacred music, as well as the comic operas that established the Singspiel as a genre. He travelled throughout Germany, and was later influenced by Gluck and the Italian musical scene thanks to his journey with this latter to Bologna in 1763. He was appointed chapel master in Breslau in 1769. Around 1785 he played with Haydn, Mozart and Vanhal, his foremost pupil, in a string quartet.
Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C KV271k (KV314) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Salzburg 1756-Vienna 1791) was a prolific correspondent, and it is thanks to his letters that we know that he probably wrote the KV314 oboe concerto between 1 April 1777, which was when Ferlendis took up the appointment in Salzburg, and his departure for Munich on 23 September of that same year. Even if the work was composed with Ferlendis in mind, however, it would seem that this latter never played it, since he gave up his post in Salzburg in June 1778. On 2 November 1777, while in Mannhein Mozart made the acquaintance of Friedrich Ramm (17441811), considered an excellent oboist, even by Mozart: he “plays extremely well and with a very pure sound” (Letter from Mozart to his father, 4 November 1777, II, 104). He offered Ramm the concerto, and it became the oboist’s hobbyhorse. 4
For a long time this concerto was thought to be lost. Then in 1920, in the archives of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Bernhard Paumgartner discovered manuscript orchestral and oboe scores dating back to the 18th century, and realized that the music tallied with that of the flute concerto in D major K314, but transposed one tone lower. Later, studies of the scores and Mozart’s letters proved the flute concerto to be an arrangement of the oboe concerto, written in haste to honour a commission received from De Jean, a rich Dutch patron who was also a good amateur flautist. Perusal of the original manuscript version would help resolve all questions pertaining to the oboe score and the Salzburg copy. Alas, this for the present is impossible because the composer’s hand-written score has still not been found. The timbre of the oboe, which is fine, brilliant and shrill, and yet at the same time sweet, is well suited to the classical Viennese style, and in particular to the gallant style typical of these concertos, where the soloist tends to predominate over the orchestra, giving voice to his skill, and to the ornamental variation, the contrasts and the seductively joyous spirit of the works. Apart from the passages without the soloists (tutti: exposition, recapitulation, coda), for the most part the orchestra is relegated to the role of accompaniment and harmonisation. By almost systematically removing the viola part and sometimes the bass line as well, this reduction helps set off the soloist. On other occasions all that remains is the bass line, as in Hofmann. Mozart alone had all the strings play, even with the soloist, or just the 1st and 2nd violins. But then he particularly appreciated the viola for its harmony and timbre, as the quartets and the Sinfonia concertante K364 clearly reveal. Generally speaking, the two horns add a touch of colour, always (with the exception of Mozart) in the tutti sections without the soloist, though Dittersdorf and Hofmann did not maintain them in the slow movement. The one exception is the first movement of Ferlendis’s concerto, where the horns alone accompany the oboe for four bars (182 to 185). Mozart was the only composer to add two oboes to the two horns. The wind instruments accentuate certain passages in his concerto, even with the soloist, heralding developments within the third movement. 5
The harpsichord realising the basso continuo (also at Ferlendis and Mozart in this CD) adds an element of variety of the orchestral textures. The actual composition of the bass line varies from one composer to the next. For instance, Ferlendis lightens it by using short notes and punctuation, whereas Dittersdorf makes it omnipresent and marked, with long notes and repeated short notes. Apart from repeated notes, Hofmann relies on short melodic passages that accompany the oboe (1st movement), while Mozart often uses the pedal in repeated notes, or brief bass chords in syncopation with other parts. The soloists enjoy a degree of freedom of interpretation in the cadenzas, a tradition established in the baroque period that allowed for the exhibition of virtuoso skill. Andrius wrote the cadenzas himself, on the basis of melodic and harmonic elements in each movement that he perceived as important. Our interpretation of such refined, elegant and well-defined music hopes to bring out its delightfully theatrical character, which we hope that you will enjoy! © Céline & Andrius Puskunigis Translation: Kate Singleton
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Andrius Puskunigis. Born in 1979 in Lithuania, Andrius Puskunigis was only five years old when he began playing the oboe under the guidance of his father. A former student of the Kaunas Juozas Gruodis Conservatory and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, it was during his time at the latter establishment that he was offered a position in the orchestra of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2000, aged 21, Puskunigis moved to France and entered the Metz National Conservatory of Music, where he studied under Serge Haerrig. While in Metz he attended many masterclasses given by renowned oboists (David Walter, Michel Bénet and Jérôme Guichard) and the composer György Ligeti. He graduated with highest honours from the Conservatory in 2005, thereafter studying with Armin Aussem at the Saarbrücken ‘Hochschule’ in Germany in order to improve his orchestral playing. Since 2007, Puskunigis’s ensemble and orchestral engagements in Germany have included work with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, the Kammerphilharmonie Mannheim and the Gémeaux Quartett. He is currently first solo oboist of the Heidelberger Sinfoniker, conducted by Thomas Fey. His first soloist recording with this ensemble (Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante n°105 in B major Op.84) was released in 2012. Ever keen to expand his repertoire, in 2011 Puskunigis recorded Schumann‘s Drei Romanzen Op.94, Fantasiestücke Op.73, and Adagio und Allegro Op.70 with the Lithuanian pianist Evelina Puzaite˙. In 2013 he recorded the Bach Oboe Concertos 7
with the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra. Released by Brilliant Classics, the CD attracted favourable reviews from Siebe Riedstra on www.opusklassiek.nl. Since launching his career as a soloist, he has performed at various international festivals such as the Sylt Art Festival (Germany) in 2010, the Edinburgh International Festival in 2011, and the St Christopher Summer Festival in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2013. He has twice travelled to Eisenstadt for the 2011 and 2013 International Haydn Days. Puskunigis now lives in France, where, alongside his busy performing schedule, he teaches the oboe and chamber music.
The St Christopher Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1994 by Donatas Katkus and named after the patron saint of travellers, whose image decorates the Vilnius coat of arms. Under the aegis of the city, the orchestra brilliantly represents the excellence of Vilnius musical culture. The orchestra is composed of the most promising musical talents of Lithuania, its members drawing on both the strengths of the Russian violin school and the European cultural tradition. A number of the musicians have won prizes at various international competitions. The orchestra comprises several chamber ensembles and string quartets, as well as solo performers. With some 80 annual concerts and 15 new programmes per year, the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra is renowned for its remarkable range of musical styles, from the baroque to the contemporary. The ensemble plays baroque music in an authentic manner – it was in fact responsible for initiating the rebirth of baroque period performance in Lithuania. Its approach to classical music encompasses exceptionally vivid articulation, while its performances of Romantic music are firmly rooted in the Russian tradition. The orchestra is well known as a daringly innovative ensemble, eager to expand its repertoire and constantly involved in a number of original projects, including jazz performances, rock operas or pop events. It has gained national and international 8
recognition, appearing to widespread acclaim in all the major festivals and musical events of Lithuania as well as touring abroad extensively (in France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Germany and many other countries). It has performed in such prestigious venues as the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Berlin Schauspielhaus, the Köln Philharmonic Hall, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall. The St Christopher Chamber Orchestra has recorded over 20 CDs, released under the labels Fleur De Son Classics (USA), Ambitus (Germany), BIS (Sweden), and Dutton (UK). This is their second recording for Brilliant Classics. 9
1st violins Concertmeister : Giedre˙ ŽARE˙NAITE˙ Eugenija BUDZILA Kristina MOROZOVA Žydre˙ OVSIUKAITE˙ Bernardas PETRAUSKAS 2nd violins Aidas JURGAITIS Jurgita GAUBYTE˙ Irena MILOŠAITE˙ Rusne˙ KIŠKYTE˙ Violas Birute˙ BAGDONIENE˙ Tomas PETRIKIS Vytenis LISAUSKAS
Oboes Lukas SARPALIUS Viktor PALEJ Tomas BIELIAUSKAS Horns Zigmantas AUGAITIS Jurgita JANKEVICˇ IENE˙ Guest player : Céline SCIBETTAPUSKUNIGIS harpsichord d idn’t play in G. FERLENDIS and W.A. MOZART
Artistic director and conductor of the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra, Donatas Katkus is also a violinist, teacher and musicologist who graduated from the Vilnius and Moscow Conservatoires. In 1965 he founded the Vilnius String Quartet, of which he was a member for 29 years. The quartet’s awards include first prize at the International Liège Competition (Belgium). It tours widely, appearing in the most prestigious festivals. Donatas is currently a professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music, where he teaches chamber ensemble and string quartet classes. He has given masterclasses at summer music academies in Pommersfelden (Germany), Spain, and Finland. In 1994 Donatas founded the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra of Vilnius, and in 1995 he successfully implemented his long-standing desire to establish the St Christopher Summer Festival in the same city. In 2003 he was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
didn’t play in L. HOFMANN and K. DITTERS von DITTERSDORF didn’t play in L. HOFMANN
Cellos Onute˙ ŠVABAUSKAITE˙ Domas JAKŠTAS Vaidas TAMOŠIU¯NAS
d idn’t play in K. DITTERS von DITTERSDORF
Double bass Jonas PAULIKAS
p layed only in 2nd movement of W.A. MOZART
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Donatas Katkus
d idn’t play in 2nd movement of W.A. MOZART
Recording: 13-18 October 2014, Church of St Catherine, Vilnius, Lithuania Production: St Christopher Chamber Orchestra & Donatas Katkus Sound recording and editing: Arturas Sabilo Puskunigis photo: Teodoras Biliu¯nas Orchestra photo: Juozas Sirusas - & © 2015 Brilliant Classics
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