The LP of this attractive recital of eighteenth-century oboe sonatas has been available sometime. Now comes the CD whose recorded sound maintains the high standards set by this small but enterprising Belgian company. The six sonatas which Paul Dombrecht has chosen make up a picture indicative of the stage at which oboe playing had reached during the early and middle decades of the eighteenth century. Much of the writing requires a virtuoso technique and all of it makes demands on a player's ability at tasteful and effective embellishment. Paul Dombrecht is an admirable exponent of this repertoire; his technique is accomplished, his tone warm and nicely rounded and his sense of style commendably assured.
Sadly, in spite of its many virtues, I cannot but recommended that you think very carefully before buying either the LP or CD versions; for in the second movement of the Handel Sonata in F (a transposition of the G major Sonata for flute and continuo, Op. 1 No. 5) an entire bar is missing with incongruous results, since the correct pattern of notes is imitated at once at the interval of a fifth by the continuo. I very much hope that the error can be corrected since until such time as that happens the deterrent from adding an otherwise noteworthy recital to one's library remains considerable. Meanwhile, two other good performances of this fine sonata exist in the catalogue: on Philips with Neil Black playing a modern oboe (CD 412 598-2PH); and on Harmonia Mundi with Michel Piguet playing a baroque oboe (reviewed on page 405).'