Elevazione - The Magic of the Oboe

"Gordon Hunt's latest oboe collection is Baroque‚ though with a few helping modern hands. One of these belonged to Arthur Benjamin‚ whose very free and personal arrangement of four keyboard sonatas by Cimarosa has long been a popular 'concerto'. It is nicely suited to the oboe‚ easy on the oboist's fingers and on the listener's ear‚ and played with much charm here. The arrangement of two of Domenico Zipoli's keyboard pieces into a single so­called Elevazione by Victoria Hunt is more Romantic still‚ despite the 'Baroque' accompaniment of cello‚ strings and organ. That of JS Bach's well­known Adagio from the Cantata Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe includes some well­judged ornamentation on the return of the melody; the sinfonia from the Easter Oratorio has its own wonderful melodic eloquence. Marcello's C minor Concerto and two concertos from Albinoni's engaging sets make up a pleasant‚ well­balanced programme‚ played with a lively sense of style and‚ when called for‚ a nice turn of wit. Hunt‚ incidentally‚ does not play a Baroque oboe but a very modern one indeed‚ a Howarth barely two years old."
(Gramophone)

Gordon Hunt was born in London and studied under Terence MacDonagh. He appears throughout the world as a soloist and conductor, and also regularly takes masterclasses and plays with many renowned ensembles. In addition, he has a distinguished orchestral career, currently being principal oboe in the Philharmonia and London Chamber Orchestras. Previously he has held the same position in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also played as guest principal with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears regularly as a soloist with international orchestras, and has performed concertos and recitals on six continents.

Gordon Hunts recordings include a disc of Bliss, Bax and Britten chamber music (BIS-CD-763), a disc of British music for solo oboe, Soliloquy (BIS-CD-769) and, as soloist and director, a disc of baroque concertos, Elevazione (BIS-NL-CD-5017). As a conductor, he has an increasingly busy schedule. He was music director of the Swedish Chamber Winds from 1991 until 1997 and he continues to work with wind ensembles and leading orchestras all over the world. He became artistic director of the Danish Chamber Players in June 2001. Gordon Hunt is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and a member of the jury for the International Oboe Competition of Tokyo, held triennially.