Juozas Rimas
Oboe, conductor
The leading oboist in Lithuania, a professor of woodwinds in the Lithuanian Musical Academy, Juozas Rimas has been playing the oboe for almost 40 years.
However, he is totally unknown abroad.
Setting aside the objective factor of the oboe being a relatively unpopular instrument, there was one serious reason for that: the oboist had to mature under the yoke of the hostile Soviet authorities that didn't allow him to study, perform or record CDs in the West, although he still managed to give hundreds of concerts, radio and television performances on the Socialist side of the Iron Curtain, perform with Gidon Kremer, Genady Rozhdestvensky, all major Lithuanian orchestras, record 5 solo LPs and premiere more than 40 Lithuanian and foreign authors' works, some of them written specially for him.
Juozas Rimas' repertoire is virtually unlimited: from modern jazz to Bach, from Mozart to contemporary Lithuanian composers, from well-known compositions for the oboe to the ones that no one ever played on this instrument.
Pedagogic activity doesn't impede the oboist from keeping up his skill and now he is in top form, planning to show his art beyond the borders of his minute fatherland.
Recordings
Juozas Rimas has recorded 5 solo LPs:
- 1. Oboenkonzerte: Mozart, Albinoni, Vivaldi
- (Im Vertrieb der Ariola-Eurodisc GmbH, LP# 200 098-315) (this record has mysteriously drained away back in the seventies and was released in Germany; performers knew about that only later on. Unabridged version of this record, including dell'Abacco's concerto for oboe and strings in C-dur, had been released several times in the SU).
- 2. Works of Lithuanian Soviet Composers
- (Rekasius, Balakauskas, Juzeliunas, Bajoras, Barkauskas). Melodya, 1981 (LP# C10-15775-6).
- 3. Boccherini, Mozart. Melodya, 1987
- (LP# C10-25345-000).
- 4. Handel, Bach. Melodya, 1968
- (LP# ZZD-00026306).
- 5. Dvarionas, Raciunas. Melodya, 1970
- (LP# ZZD-00020942).
Unfortunately, all the LPs, except perhaps #1, are extremely hard to get outside the former Soviet Union (although if you are, say, from Russia, you can try and borrow a copy from the nearest library).
Hopefully, some of them will be re-recorded or digitalized in the future.
Juozas Rimas has also participated in the recording of some CDs, including:
- 1. Vladimir Tarasov and Baltic Art Orchestra
- (live at Jazz Baltica Festival 1994, Salzau and Husum).
- 2. Vladimir Tarasov and Lithuanian Art Orchestra. WaltzAtto
- (1993).
- 3. Lithuanian New Music Year
- (1998, www.mic.lt)
However, the easiest way to get acquainted with the playing style of Juozas Rimas is to download the free mp3 sound files.
Contact details and further information
E-mail Juozas Rimas
For further details, see
www.geocities.com/oboerimas/
or Juozas Rimas' MP3 site
