It was an attractive idea to couple two of Telemann's oboe and oboe d'amore concertos with two similarly scored concertos by Bach. Both of the Bach works are transcriptions: the Concerto in F major is based on the Harpsichord Concerto in E major, BWV1053. As we know, Bach arranged most of his harpsichord concertos from works which he had conceived for other solo instruments, mainly violin but also, perhaps, woodwind. In the case of this concerto, however, the music survives in two further sources, the Cantatas Nos. 169 (movements 1 and 2) and 49 (movement 3). The other Bach concerto here is much more familiar in its present arrangement for oboe d'amore and strings though its sole eighteenthcentury source is that of the Harpsichord Concerto in A major, BWV1055. Of the two, the A major transcription is, perhaps, the more convincing since in the text of the F major Concerto which is followed here, there are some unconvincing moments. No such complications with the Telemann concertos. The Concerto in D minor is one of eight which he wrote for oboe and strings whilst the other in G major is one of two which he composed for oboe d'amore and strings; a third for two oboes d'amore and strings is altogether more modest though an attractive work none the less.
The soloist, Paul Goodwin, is a fluent and often dashing executant on both instruments yet the music sometimes gets the better of him and I found myself too often concerned by matters of intonation. Curiously, it is Telemann as much if not more than Bach that highlights the weaknesses. The second movement of the Concerto in D minor is a case in point where orchestra and soloist seem to be in some disagreement over tuning. On the other hand, I enjoyed Goodwin's spirited account of the music. He captures the deliciously primitive folk-music effects which Telemann assimilated during his short period of employment in Moravia, but it does not sufficiently offset the rough passages in the finale, for example, where Goodwin, on occasion, is unmistakably 'up against it', as they say. The lovely concertos for oboe d'amore come off rather more convincingly, on the whole, but the fact remains that these performances are insufficiently polished for my ears. To be thoroughly schoolmasterly, more rehearsal time and more recording time, too, were evidently needed, but, to end on a positive note, these are performances by artists who love the music and know how to perform it stylishly. The recorded sound is clear with slightly more harpsichord presence than is necessary and, at present, there are no rival versions available on period instruments of the two Telemann works. Cautious recommendation.'