Introduction

«Créations» is a record of new music for the oboe in various contexts: solo, in a duo with the piano, in a duo with the accordion, in a duo with the flute, in a trio with the cello and piano, and in a quintet with the violin, viola, cello and double bass.
Almost all of these tracks were first performed in public or, as the French would say, they were “created” between 2013 and 2015 at the the «Festival OBOE» in Paris, where they were played by the same people who then recorded them for this record. The composers come from all over the world: most of them from Italy (Antonioni, Campogrande, Di Stefano, Ghidoni and Montanaro); others from France (Dachez), New Zealand (Keay), the USA (Marcus) and Belarus (Gurvitch). They knew about the festival (the only one of its kind in the world) and they either asked me to perform their pieces or wrote a new piece that was dedicated to me. These are pieces in which I deeply believe, because they were written with soul and with skill and because they give the right emphasis and value to the oboe. I therefore thought it was right and interesting to record them in order to make a wider audience aware of them and also to give a further push to the experience of “creation” (discovery-study-assimilation-performance-affirmation in time and in history). There are not many contemporary pieces for the oboe and it basically remains an exclusive or elite instrument that is little known even by composers, who rarely think of using this instrument for their compositions. It is therefore a source of pride for me to have encouraged or inspired, over the 16-year history of the festival, the creation of at least 14 new pieces for the oboe. The result is this double CD that also contains some new and fun surprises. The style of these pieces ranges from the neoclassical to the minimal, but while always respecting the melodic and nostalgic qualities of the oboe and its specific beauty.

(from the liner notes by Marika Lombardi)