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Duality - Zimmermann & Vanhal: Bassoon Concertos on CD

Two composers. Two bassoonists. Two premieres. One big musical feast.

The bassoon as a solo instrument does not appear all that often

in the concerto literature, but a concerto for two bassoons is truly rare,

being something that could arise only in the environment of an ensemble

that possessed two soloists on that instrument. One such double concerto

has been played for many years under the name of the important Czech

composer Jan Krtitel Vanhal. But what if it had really been composed

by someone else? The question has been raised by Ondrej sindelar, a player

of the classical bassoon, who has found the same concerto bearing the name

of Anton Zimmermann in one of Prague's archives. The two works differ from

each other only in the slow movement. Theft? Plagiarism? A copyist's error?

Collegial assistance? We are left with the unsolved mysteries of authorship

and of whether the two masters may have met. Vanhal's travels took him

from Hradec Kralove to Vienna, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia. Having established

himself professionally in Hradec Kralove, Zimmermann went on to a successful

career in Pressburg (Bratislava) in the service of Archbishop Jozef Batthyany.

What is important, however, is that Ondrej sindelar has now joined his former

teacher, the bassoon wizard Sergio Azzolini, to record Zimmermann's version

of the double concerto in it's world premiere, supplemented by a solo

concerto by Zimmermann (another premiere) and one of Vanhal's three

preserved concertos. Noteworthy music that is previously undiscovered

in the hands of wonderful soloists and orchestra - that's a real musical feast.