Oboe recital scottish independent co-educational boarding school  

Nicholas Daniel (oboe) and Paul Turner (piano)

Sunday 8 November 2009

The way in which a skilled musician can bring life from an inanimate object has always amazed me, and the Glenalmond College Remembrance Sunday Recital with world-renowned oboist and former BBC Young Musician of the Year Nicholas Daniel with the brilliant accompanist Paul Turner was no exception.

 

We were treated to a repertoire spanning three centuries, beginning with the soaring phrases of Bach's Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020.

The following Three Miniatures for Oboe and Piano' by Hamilton Harty started with the dark and expressive Orientale and contrasted with the concluding merry, sparkling À  La Campagne.

 

As both an oboist and pianist myself, I can fully appreciate how good breath control and constant tuning are vital for a good performance, and the stamina and concentration required to maintain this. Daniel did this with ease, and his subtle use of circular breathing made this feat all the more impressive.

 

Next came two of Benjamin Britten's two short Insect Pieces, painting an accurate, delicate image of The Grasshopper followed by the severe, serrated drama of the The Wasp in which Daniel's vast dynamic range was fully realised.

 

Edmund Rubbra's Sonata in C with its striking extremes of expression and constant fluctuating harmony, was my personal favourite. The first movement, Con Moto, is a dark, sonorous and ruminating piece followed with Elegy (Lento) and the final movement Presto, where the free-flowing and effervescent piano underlies the steadier singing style of oboe melody, creating an impressionistic finish to the sonata – in Daniel's own words: "like autumn leaves rushing over a field".

 

Nicholas Daniel and Paul Turner have left me with a lasting impression. It is a rare occasion to find two performers with such immense talent, and I find myself privileged to have heard such a duo first-hand!

 

Ross Leaver [Patchell's]