Ristori: Concerto for Oboe in E-flat Major

The court orchestra of Dresden had fallen into decline in the early eighteenth century, but its swift revival began in 1718 with the wedding preparations for the electoral prince, Frederick August II, and Maria Josepha of Austria, the daughter of the Hapsburg emperor. Musicians from Italy, France, and other courts in Germany were appointed to the Hofkapelle, and in the years following the wedding, the ensemble flourished and was held in high esteem throughout Europe. Many composers from Dresden, elsewhere in Germany, and beyond wrote works for the Dresden orchestra—as well as works for other orchestras in the Dresden style, thus reinforcing the artistic renown of the ensemble.

Giovanni Alberto Ristori’s Concerto for Oboe in E-flat Major is not entirely by him. Johann Georg Pisendel, concertmaster of the Dresden Hofkapelle, often intervened in other composers’ works by cutting certain passages and even adding new material, and in this case, it is clear from the handwriting in the surviving part set that Pisendel composed the first movement himself.