Claudio Abbado
Claves
This is the last studio recording of the late Claudio Abbado (1933-2014), and what a swan song it is. With a lifetime of recordings of massive works such as Mahler symphonies and operas, the Italian maestro returned to two early classical works of Mozart and Haydn and recorded them with the last orchestra he put together as its chief.
Orchestra Mozart Bologna, a chamber-size ensemble of 40 players, delivered refined sound quality in light texture in Mozart's oboe concerto.
The crystal-clean strings were matched by Lucas Macias Navarro, the superb principal oboist from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, another Abbado band in his last years.
His exquisite phrasing added to the charm of the music, especially those long lines in the slow movement. The cadenzas were his platform for virtuosity and there was no lack of it. The orchestra was by no means passive. The soaring viola passage in the final movement was a nice surprise.