GRAMOPHONE , April 2004  

An elegant soloist shines in a concerto collection that never fails to delight  

I can't think of any other modern CD collection of English oboe concertos that I have enjoyed more than this. Ruth Bolister's refined phrasing and elegance of articulation are captivating throughtout, especially so in Elgar's delicate Soliloquy (a fragment of an Oboe suite, scored by Gordon Jacob). Jacob's own First Concerto is the most substantial work in the programme, and given its recording premiere here. It was written for Evelyn Rothwell, although Leon Goosens then purloined it and gave the premiere in partnership with Beecham. In Ruth Bolister's hands, the neo-Classical first movement is most divertingly presented and the wistfully yearning Andante is quite lovely, followed by a more characteristically pastoral closing Rondo. In the Holst  Fugal Concerto, flautist Kate Hill's contribution is equally delightful; the opening Moderato brings a felicitous interplay, and the Adagio, with its flowing line reminding one of Bach, has surely never been more beautifully played on record. The Goosens Concerto is succinctly structured with spicy and unpredictable moments of astringency; the piece has a sombre lyrical core, yet ends genially. The closing work by Vaughan Williams then makes a perfect foil, its pastoral feeling naturally caught. Stephen Bell's accompaniments with the excellent Elgar Chamber Orchestra could not be more stylish, with the string playing  neat and polished, and the lustrous recording, warm, natural and transparent, is very much in the demonstration bracket. Very highly recommended.

Ivan March

BBC Music Magazine, March 2004  

The oboe with its pastoral associations and its crisp attack, attracted many 20th centuary English composers - all the more so because of the pre-eminince of Leon Goosens, who premiered everything in this programme. Ruth Bolister, principal oboist of English National Opera, arouses echos of Goosens with her technical fluency, expressive slow vibrato and precise tonguing, as well as her ability to make a line her own - though she abjures Goosen's wilful perpetual rubato, and her tone is more rounded.She is a persuasive advocate for Gorden Jacob's well made First Concerto (recorded here for the first time) and the French-sounding single-movement Concerto by Goosen's brother Eugene, and she partners flautist Kate Hill companionably in Holst's neat back-to-Bach Fugal Concerto. But Elgar's late Soliloquy is a little lacking in charm, and the lovely Vaughan Williams Concerto is not always ideally paced: in particular the finale loses its way when an episode marked 'twice as slow' is played at a quarter of the previous tempo. The recording is too closely focused on the soloist, denying her a real pianissimo and obscuring some details of the orchestral support. Despite its shortcomings, though, this is a disc which should appeal to lovers of the period or of the solo instrument.

Anthony Burton

The Guardian, Friday January 23 2004  

The main problem with this thoughtful selection of works composed for the great British oboist Leon Goossens is that the longest piece, Gordon Jacob's First Oboe Concerto, is easily the least interesting. It is the epitome of the blandest kind of 20th-century English music.Jacob's reputation is redeemed by his sensitive orchestration of Elgar's 1930 Soliloquy, the only survivng fragment of what was intended as a suite for oboe and strings. Holst's miniaturised Fugal Concerto, for flute and oboe, and Vaughan Williams' A minor Concerto are much more interesting works, and here, both are deftly played by Ruth Bolister, while the single-movement concerto by Goosens' brother Eugene neatly ties in the theme.

Andrew Clements

Double Reed News, Spring 2004  

When I read in last month's BDRS magazine Ruth Bolister's account of the making of her CD of English Oboe Concerti, I was very eager to hear the result. As I expected, it turns out to be a very important and successful recording. All the pieces that she plays have, to players of my generation, been intimately associated with Leon Goossens, who had a virtual monopoly in the concert hall and in the recording studio, at least until the arrival on the scene of his pupil Evelyn Rothwell ( later Barbirolli ). It is hard to imagine in these days of great oboists from many nations that in the early 1930s there could have been one soloist who did it all. His very idiosyncratic style was in the ear of these composers before a note was written, and in playing the music of this time I for one have found it impossible to foget his influence, and the debt we all owe him.  To hear these well loved pieces played by a fine oboist, who can never have heard Goossens at his peak, is a revelation. It has the effect of giving the music greater stature and more universality, as if the composers were to say, "we can stand on our own merits without the helping hand of the Goossens touch".  

Ruth plays with total control and virtuosity, and also with great warmth and affection - just sample her wonderful interpretation of the best music on this disc, the Soliloquy of Elgar in Gordon Jacob's beautiful orchestration. Consider also the stamina required to record nearly seventy minutes of oboe concerti in a limited number of sessions. I am particularly pleased to have this premiere recording of the first Jacob Concerto. In the notes, Mervyn Coke mentions that it is a transcription of an earlier Oboe Quartet, but this is a work quite unrelated to the quartet that is played and enjoyed by so many oboists and audiences.  

The sound engineers have done amazingly well with St. Jude's accoustics, which are notoriously difficult in live performance. My only quibble concerns the balance of flute and oboe in Holst's Fugal Concerto, where Kate Hill's tone is not recorded in its full glory. From the opening bars of the Jacob, with which this disc begins, there is a fine sense of involvement from all the players and Stephen Bell, conducting, shows that he is not just a fine Horn player.  

Is it greedy to hope that this record might be followed by a companion containing performances of the excellent English Oboe Quartets and Quintets of this period? There's a fine choice of Bax, Bliss, Britten, Finzi and Jacob. Please think about it, Ruth!

Neil Black O.B.E.