Oboe Concertos at the Court of Thurn Und Taxis

The granting of the postal monopoly for the entire empire brought the Thurn and Taxis court immeasurable wealth and Regensburg rose to become one of the most important music centres in the German-speaking world in the second half of the 18th century. Outstanding musicians were engaged for the court orchestra, the most important of whom was the oboist Giovanni Palestrini. His playing must have made a great impression on Prince Alexander and he was held in high esteem. For this reason, the Thurn and Taxis court library contains a strikingly large number of oboe concertos, over 100 in all, from which the renowned baroque oboist Xenia Löffler has selected four impressive examples by Franz Xaver Kerzelli, Joan Baptista Pla and Theodor von Schacht. The music is influenced by Viennese classical music, is full of wonderful melodies and radiates a great lightness. Schacht's concerto already shows the first traits of early Romanticism and, with three oboes as solo instruments, is a special case in music history. Xenia Löffler has enlisted her two equally renowned oboe colleagues Alfredo Bernardini and Michael Bosch for this cabinet piece.