Britten Oboe Quartet: A Tribute to Janet

Harmonia Mundi

JJJJ The Janet referred to in the title of this disc is Janet Craxton, the British oboist who died in her early 50s in 1981. Behind the tribute are the Britten Oboe Quartet, headed up by one of today’s leading solo oboists Nicholas Daniel, whose teacher was Craxton. They begin with Mozart’s gorgeous

Oboe Quartet and a completion by Daniel of a Mozart curiosity, the

Adagio for English Horn. The Quartet is delivered with refreshing piquancy and spirited energy. Daniel’s nimble brilliance dominates, but never at the expense of the full chamber ensemble experience. The autumnal Adagio takes us into a more subdued world, opening with prophetic similarity to the later, better-known Ave Verum.

The rest of the disc journeys into 20th century territory, from Britten’s

Phantasy Op 2 to two works written for Craxton, Oliver Knussen’s haunting Cantata and the delicious

Cor Anglais Quartet by Jean Français.