Xenia Löffler & Batzdorfer Hofkapelle - Oboe Concertos at the Court of Thurn and Taxis (2023)

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 Lffler 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 Lffler has enlisted her two equally renowned oboe colleagues Alfredo Bernardini and Michael Bosch for this cabinet piece.

Xenia Lffler has acquired an outstanding reputation in recent years with her unmistakable oboe sound and compelling interpretations. The critics praise her "completely natural virtuosity" and her "elegant tone, rich in colours and nuances." (Klassik.com)

Since 2001 she has been a member and solo oboist of the Akademie fr Alte Musik Berlin and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician with other ensembles and orchestras under renowned conductors all over the world. Sir John Eliot Gardiner's invitation to participate as a solo oboist in his Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000 was of particular importance in her musical career.

Trained at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, she is particularly interested in exploring unknown oboe repertory and recording it on CD. She has already released numerous solo CDs with labels such as harmonia mundi (CPE Bach Oboe Concertos, Venetian oboe concertos), Supraphon (Reichenauer and Jirnek) and Accent (Bach oboe concertos and cantatas, Dresden oboe concertos, Graun oboe concertos, and a Handel programme entitled My Favourite Instrument'). Several of these recordings have received major awards or nominations, notably for the BBC Music Magazine Awards and the Gramophone Award and Diapason d'or.