Stephen Caplan is the principal oboist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Las Vegas Pops. Perhaps his most intriguing work is with the various orchestras where, according to his liner notes, he accompanies popular “superstars” on the Las Vegas Strip. Any performer who can play Strauss concerto on a Tuesday and accompany Wayne Newton on Wednesday is OK in my book. Jesting aside, Caplan is a gifted musician and his disc is excellent.
Solo-oboe recital recordings are pretty rare, so Caplan’s quirky “A Tree in Your Ear” covers some uncharted ground. Caplan’s oboe and English horn are spotlighted in contemporary chamber music. The accompanying forces include taped electronic music, jazz trio, percussion, frogs, crickets, and coyotes. No. I didn’t make that last bit up and, yes, the wildlife sounds were taped. The most conservative music on the recording is William Grant Stills “ Miniatures” for oboe, flute, and piano. This 1948 composition is comprised of five folk-song settings taken from the US, Mexico, and Peru. The opening tune, “Ride an Old Paint,” will be familiar to most from Copland’s “Rodeo.” There is some nice interplay between Caplan, flutist Richard Soule, and pianist Carol Stivers, but Still’s treatment of each folk tune is bland.
The same cannot be said for the late Alan Hovhaness’ exotic “Koke No Niwa,” scored for English horn, percussion, and harp. Hohaness’ piece is a musical tribute to Moss Temple in Kyoto, and is hypnotic in its shifting textures and tonalities. The timbre of Caplan’s English horn is ideal for this music, and he brings a dreamlike delicacy to the music that is sublime.
Much more extroverted is Virko Baley’s “Orpheus Singing,” a two-movement work scored for oboe and piano. The first movement recitative and aria for unaccompanied oboe blossoms into plaintive song. The second movement is a raucous cabaletta based on a Western Ukrainian folk song called “Kolomyika.” Caplan lets it rip in the cabaletta with a virtuoso display that includes mimicking the sound of double-reed folk instruments by playing with the reed entirely in his mouth, rather than with his lips on the reed.
A rather uninspired “Saltwater Blues” by Yusef Lateef can be passed over. The same can be said for most of Mark Phillips’ “Landscape,” a piece for oboe and taped electronic music. The most diverting portions of the Phillips work is the finale, “Rappin’ with Diz and Bird.” Caplan’s oboe darts around a pulsing electronic accompaniment that reminds me of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s M-base jazz.
I save my favorite for last. Phillip Kent Bimstein’s “Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa” pits Caplan’s oboe against a canvas of recorded chirping crickets, croaking frogs, and howling coyotes. Caplan’s expressive playing works best in the simple tune that opens the work and the funky dance that closes it. My cat, who insists on climbing onto the desk while I write, was so spooked by the howling coyotes that she stayed off the desk for the entire day. Of course tomorrow I’ll be listening to Dufay’s music, and he didn’t write anything for howling coyotes.
Craig Zeichner
