An Unexpected Pleasure Wind concertos by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - enjoyed by RON BIERMAN 'Strongly recommended ...'

What an unexpected pleasure! Since neither the composer nor the performers are household names, this one could easily slip by. Don't let it if you enjoy well-played melodic concertos.

Wolf-Ferrari was born in Venice in 1876 and achieved considerable success in the early 20th century as a composer of Italian and German comic operas. Though influenced by the chromaticism of Wagner, Wolf-Ferrari wasn't a part of the fashionable trends best represented by Schoenberg and Webern, and so was criticized as hopelessly simplistic. His fame was short-lived and his works are seldom performed. Given the recent backlash against complexity it's time for a reappraisal of him and others whose primary objective was pleasing audiences rather than blasting new paths.

While I can still imagine critics protesting the lack of depth in these concertos (they owe little to even Wagner), I can more clearly see listeners smiling at their innocent and good-natured tunes. This is from the amiable beginning of the oboe concerto.

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