Icon: Dennis Brain [Box set]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Robert Schumann (Composer), Felix [1] Mendelssohn (Composer), Paul Hindemith (Composer), Lennox Berkeley (Composer), Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (Composer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Jacques Ibert (Composer), Gordon Jacob (Composer), Paul [Composer] Dukas (Composer), Leopold Mozart (Composer), Malcolm Sargent (Conductor), Lawrence Turner (Conductor), Walter Süsskind (Conductor), Alceo Galliera (Conductor), Paul Kletzki (Conductor), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Malcolm Sargent, Lawrence Turner, Walter Süsskind, Alceo Galliera, Paul Kletzki, et al.
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard [1] Strauss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard [Classical] Wagner, Robert Schumann, et al.
• Audio CD (September 2, 2008)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00166QKJC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,717 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #20 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Brass > French Horn
  • #22 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Classical (c.1770-1830) > Forms & Genres > Symphonies
  • #22 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Classical

Editorial Reviews

Four CD set. Dennis Brain is The Horn Player who performs Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven, Hindemith, Wagner, Schumann, Haydn and Jacob.The Siegfried of the horn' is how Sir Thomas Beecham affectionately dubbed Dennis Brain, the brilliant horn player whose career ended with such cruel suddenness when the car in which he was driving home overnight from the 1957 Edinburgh Festival crashed into a tree on the outskirts of London. Beecham's graceful description derives from the hero's horn-call in Wagner's opera, music that had come to be particularly associated with Brain: he had played it to illustrate the horn's capabilities in HMV's 1947 recording Instruments of the Orchestra, and in the 1950s, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, had called him in for three successive seasons to play the taxing horn passages in the company's Ring cycles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's [almost] all there!, December 16, 2008

By 

Buck Bauer (ELDERSBURG, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icon: Dennis Brain (Audio CD)

Like many young students of the horn, back in the 1970's, I was inspired by the music on the Seraphim LP "The Art of Dennis Brain." I particularly loved the performance of the Minuet and Trio from Dittersdorf's Partita in D, something I was no longer able to enjoy after my turntable [record player] died, late in the previous century, and the album was never re-released on CD.

Imagine my joy to find that the identical recording is listed among the twenty-five performances in this four-CD set, as are all the other tracks from that Seraphim LP.

Imagine my disappointment when I found that the track labeled

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
Partita in D
Minuet & Trio
London Baroque Ensemble
Karl Haas

is NOT the identically-labeled music from the Seraphim LP. It is either from some other Dittersdorf Partita in D, or from something else entirely. [It is not one of the set of Dittersdorf Partitas [KM2101] published by Breitkopf & Härtel.] Somebody at EMI seems to have "dropped the ball" on this one. If anyone reading this review ever learns where the "original" can be heard, please leave that information here in a review of this album. Thanks!

December 31, 2008 elaboration:

This set is also available from other sellers under the name "Dennis Brain The Horn Player." Do not be confused by the differing titles -- they are the same item.

Another reviewer suggested going to the EMI site to see a full list of the tracks in this set. I found their list to be a mess, with duplications. I've tried to sort the entries in that list, into the order in which they appear according to the list in the booklet that accompanies the set.

I have indicated with asterisks and other symbols my educated guesses as to the other albums on which duplicates of the recordings appear.

DISC 1 ::

Mozart: Horn Concerto No.4 in E flat, K.495
[Hallé Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent, Lawrence Turner]

#####
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat K417
[Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind]

R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major Op. 11
[Philharmonia, Alceo Galliera]

##### & ***
Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F, Op.17
[Denis Matthews]

Wagner: Siegfried's Horn Call

##### & ***
Schumann: Adagio & Allegro in A flat, Op.70
[Gerald Moore]

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61 - No.7 Nocturne
[Paul Kletzki]

DISK 2 ::

**** (all four)
Mozart: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 in D Major, KV412
Mozart: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 in E flat major, KV417
Mozart: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 3 in E flat major, KV447
Mozart: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 4 in E flat major, KV495
[Philharmonia, Herbert von Karajan]

***
Mozart: Quintet in E flat for Piano and Wind, K452
[Cecil Horsley, Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble]

DISC 3 ::
* (both)
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major Op. 11
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat major
[Philharmonia, Wolfgang Sawallisch]

*
Hindemith: Horn Concerto
[Philharmonia, Paul Hindemith]

L. Berkeley: Horn Trio Op. 44
[Manoug Parikian, Colin Horsley]

DISC 4 ::

Mozart: Ein musikalischer spass in F major K.522
[Philharmonia, Guido Cantelli]

**
Mozart: Divertimento No. 14 in B flat K270
[Dennis Brain Ensemble]

#####
Mozart: Divertimento No.16 in E flat, K.289, II.Minuet, III.Adagio
[Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble]

[was supposed to be but is not, from ####]
Dittersdorf: Partita in D - Minuet & Trio
[London Baroque Ensemble, Karl Haas]

#####
Haydn: Symphony No.31 in D 'Hornsignal' (first movement)
[Jack Westrup]

**
Ibert: Trois pièces brèves: Allegro - Andante - Assez lent - Allegro scherzando
[Dennis Brain Ensemble]

Jacob: Sextet for Wind
[Dennis Brain Ensemble]

##### & ***
Dukas: Villanelle
[1952, Gerald Moore]

!!!
L. Mozart: Concerto for hosepipe & strings - 3rd movement
[Hoffnung Music Festival, 1956]

=============
##### Seraphim 60040 [vinyl LP] "The Art of Dennis Brain"
**** EMI CDH 7610132 [Karajan]
*** TESTAMENT SBT 1091 [Karajan]
** BBC BBCL 4066-2
* EMI CDC-7 47834 2
!!! EMI CMS 7 63302 2, from Angel 3550 [vinyl LP]

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Dennis Brain compliation, November 2, 2008

By 

D. Hals - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icon: Dennis Brain (Audio CD)

Dennis Brain was the greatest horn player of the 20th century and this is the greatest collection of his recordings I've found yet. The famous 1953 recordings of the Mozart horn concertos conducted by Karajan are included. There are a plethora of other wonderful gems in this set.

The EMI website has the entire track list and notes posted online. Do yourself a favor and read those. They do a wonderful job of highlighting each recording. This is truly a unmatched collection of Brain's best recordings.
EDIT - http://www.emi-icons.com/pdfs/5099920601027_01.pdf

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Icon: Dennis Brain, October 31, 2008

By 

Bruce Atwell (Oshkosh, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Icon: Dennis Brain (Audio CD)

A truly classic recording spanning the career of the greatest horn player of the 20th century. The early recordings of the Mozart concerti, not previoulsy released are a real treat-such youthful bravura and reckless abandon in the playing and cadenzas. I would highly recommend this recording.