Zelenka’s instrumental music represents only a small part of his output, when compared to the imposing amount of sacred music which he composed. His Sonate a due Hautbois e Basson con Basso Continuo, ZWV 181, composed in Vienna in the years 1715-16, were the first step in the rediscovery of the Czech composer, since their publication by Camillo Schönbaum around 1956; in the meantime they represent one of the most significant milestones in the repertoire of every oboist and bassoonist, because of their high virtuosistic demands and inherent quality, which is superior to that of most contemporary pieces for the same instrumentation. Oboe and bassoon are exploited in their most extreme expressive and technical capacities; this may be seen in the brilliant character of the fast movements, and the melancholy or sweetness in the slow ones.
After a long absence, the first ever recording by the ensemble Zefiro is newly made available, for the first time in a single double album. The oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassoonist Alberto Grazzi, are surrounded by a dream continuo: Rinaldo Alessandrini, Rolf Lislevand, Lorenz Duftschmid…
