Although he was a septuagenarian when he composed this Oboe Concerto in 2018, on a commission from oboist Albrecht Mayer, the music of composer Peteris Vasks has continued to evolve. The inclusion here of two of Vasks' 1980s orchestral works is to the point, for they are clearly works of the same composer as the Oboe Concerto, showing a characteristic departure from Baltic minimalism in a Romantic direction. Yet Vasks' weaving of Romantic and minimalist has deepened over the years. Consider the delicacy of the Oboe Concerto ...
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Although he was a septuagenarian when he composed this Oboe Concerto in 2018, on a commission from oboist Albrecht Mayer, the music of composer Peteris Vasks has continued to evolve. The inclusion here of two of Vasks' 1980s orchestral works is to the point, for they are clearly works of the same composer as the Oboe Concerto, showing a characteristic departure from Baltic minimalism in a Romantic direction. Yet Vasks' weaving of Romantic and minimalist has deepened over the years. Consider the delicacy of the Oboe Concerto, which effortlessly incorporates the traditional pastoral flavor of the oboe into Vasks' large, slow-moving structures. The two outer movements are designated as pastorales, but perhaps the most striking movement is the central one, which achieves the promised scherzando quality without any abrupt shifts in texture or harmony. One feels that the performances here by Mayer and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga are unusually committed; the effect is hypnotic....
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