(And, whomever you are sir, not a bad introduction to the oboe!) Noseda opened Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 6” with glacial grace, slowly brightening its dusky bassoons, bass and violas.

Principal oboe Eduardo Sepúlveda will move to the front of the stage on Jan. 25. ... where a solo instrument provides both the bass and melody. And not only is the first phrase long, ...

Oboe playing, like bird watching and taffy pulling, is a passion that seems to run in families. The earliest famous oboe clan was that of Frenchman Jean Philidor, who played at the court of Louis ...

By the 1800s, the size and instrumentation were much like the modern orchestra. An order was added to the tuning ritual, with each “family” of instruments taking its turn to tune with the oboe.