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ITALIAN OBOE CONCERTOS Domenico Cimarosa (1749 - 1801) (arr. Arthur Benjamin) Oboe Concerto in C major Vincenzo Bellini (1801 -1835) Oboe Concerto in E flatmajor Vincenzo Righini (1756 -1812) Oboe Concerto in C majorFederigo Fiorillo (1755- after 1823) Sinfonia Concertante inF major Arcangelo Corelli (1653- 1713) (arr. John Barbirolli) Oboe Concerto in A major John Barbirolli (1899 - 1970)Concerto in C minor on Themes of Pergolesi Domenico Cimarosa,born in 1749, enjoyed a contemporary reputation particularly in the field of Italiancomic opera. In 1942 the Australian-born composer Arthur Benjamin was able todraw on Cimarosa's keyboard sonatas to provide an attractive oboe concerto, awork that broadly follows late Baroque rather than classical practice, althoughCimarosa himself was at the height of his reputation towards the end of theeighteenth century. A moving Introduzione leads to a sprightly Allegroand a Siciliana, the gentle Baroque pastoral dance, as a slow movement.The finalAllegro giusto makes a cheerful conclusion. Vincenzo Belliniis better known as a composer of operas than of instrumental works. He won hisfirst significant operatic success in 1827 with his third opera, II pirata. Sevenmore operas were to follow before his death in Paris in 1835 atthe age of 33. His delightful Oboe Concerto in E flat major was written,as were his other orchestral works, before 1825, while he was still a studentat the Naples Conservatory. The solo instrument enters after the shortest ofdramatic introductions with a melody of operatic suggestion, a foretaste ofBellini's later lyrical achievement. The aria leads directly to a livelyconclusion, dominated by its lively principal theme, which frames a series ofcontrasting episodes. The so-calledIdomeneus-Concerto takes its name from the accident that it was writtento provide additional music for a staging in 1806 at the Royal National Theatrein Berlin of Mozart's opera Idomeneo, Re di Creta. For the occasionthere were inserted numbers by Paer, Bernhard Anselm Weber and Vincenzo Righini,the last the Kapellmeister of the Berlin theatre since 1793. TheBerlin Italian opera was closed in 1806 as a result of the war, but openedagain, under Righini, in 1811. Righini's concerto was added to the firstmovement chorus of Idomeneo, Godiam la pace, a very relevant sentimentin the prevailing circumstances. The work has survived in a Berlin copy of theperforming score of Idomeneo. The soloist in the little concerto in Berlin was the oboistof the Berlin Royal Orchestra, Friedrich Westenho1z, whose playing was much admired. The name of FederigoFiorillo is all too well known to violinists, nurtured still on his 36 Capricesfor their instrument. Born in Brunswick in 1755, the son of anItalian opera composer, he made his earlier career as a player of the mandolin,before adding performance on the violin to his range of concert activity whichtook him to St Petersburg,to Paris and forthree years to Riga a