Here is a curious musical sandwich, where a quite recent composition, written in a very up-to-date idiom, is flanked by two twentieth-century but very conservative, late-romantic works.
The clarinettist Eduard Brunner has made his own arrangement of the solo oboe part in Lutoslawski's Double Concerto with the approval of the composer. He is certainly a brilliant player and tackles the hair-raising difficulties with great aplomb. Inevitably the harp soloist has a secondary role, but Graf is more than adequate. The orchestral part is itself very complex, and much more than an accompaniment. Here Zagrosek and the orchestra show a high level of accomplishment. The performance on the rival Philips disc could not be more authentic, since it is played by the soloists for whom the work was written, and the composer himself conducts with authority. It is not just the extraordinary virtuosity of Heinz Holliger which leads me to prefer this version, but also the feeling that the original oboe part is more effective than the clarinet arrangement. Ursula Holliger plays well, too.
Bruch's Concerto was written in 1911, when the composer was in his seventies. It is a somewhat nostalgic, pleasant piece which lacks strong individuality, but is short and doesn't at all outstay its welcome. I very much enjoyed Brunner and Zimmermann's playing, which brings out the work's gentle, wistful nature very pleasantly. King and Imai's performance on Hyperion (their disc also includes concerto works by Mendelssohn and Crusell) is slower, a little more rhetorical, and has a little less charm, particularly in the last movement Rondo, where Francis conducts more heavily than Zagrosek.
Strauss's Duet Concertino of 1947 does not reach the heights of other works from his last years. Brunner and Turkovic play it in a thoughtful, tender fashion and are well supported by Zagrosek. Meyer and Sonstevold on CBS give an accomplished, sympathetic performance, too, as do Weise and Liebscher on EMI. There's very little to choose between the three versions: the CBS disc also contains Strauss's Metamorphosen and the Prelude to Capriccio, while the EMI Studio mid-price reissue also has Strauss's two horn concertos and his Oboe Concerto. The new Schwann disc enjoys a very good, natural sound quality.'