Sambeek/Swedish Co - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ?douard Du Puy, Carl Maria von Weber: Bassoon Concertos

As Bram van Sambeek writes in the liner notes to his new disc, bassoonists consider Mozart�s Concerto in B flat major the absolute pinnacle of their repertoire. A man of great contrasts himself, Mozart recognised the potential of the bassoon as a vehicle for expressing a wide range of moods and attitudes �from the joking and playful to the dreamily tuneful. Another composer who showed a special understanding for the instrument was Carl Maria von Weber, whose Concerto in F major doesn�t come far behind Mozart�s on the list of all-time bassoon hits. But as all bassoonists would agree, that list is on the short side � compared to the piano or the violin, the bassoon has been sadly underused by composers. How much easier then to imagine van Sambeek�s excitement when, by chance, he came across an unknown bassoon concerto. From a library in Stockholm he had requested a quintet for bassoon and strings by the Swiss-born, Swedish-based singer-conductor-composer and jack-of-most-trades �douard Du Puy (c.?1770�1822) but, by mistake, he was sent a copy of the autograph manuscript for Du Puy�s �Concerto pour le Basson� in C minor. Spirited support comes from the acclaimed Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by his colleague and long-time collaborator, the oboist Alexei Ogrintchouk.