Customer Reviews

Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I, too, wondered through the years what I was missing by clinging so stubbornly to this recording, originally purchased on LP over 30 years ago. The first CD reissue of these performances was horrible, so why not try something up to date? I rue the day I bought an all digital recording on Philips by one of the maximum Horn superstars in the world (since sold in a garage sale at a fraction of its original cost). The musical culprit will have a bag placed over his head to protect the guilty. I got Mozart horn concerti turned into superstar ego vehicles complete with pretentious rubato, ridiculously self indulgent (and interminable) "cadenzas" and an aura of 20th century vulgarity. So its back to Dennis Brain and they got the transfer to digital right this time. You can't go wrong with this recording now sounding warm and inviting again. Accept no substitutes! This is the one you'll come back to.

I'm not much of a classical music reviewer. I've been exposed to a lot of music, but I tend to stick to favorite performances, so I don't have the depth needed to really be authoritative. Except perhaps for oboe, and that's because I grew up listening to John De Lancie and Marcel Tabuteau - and once you hear really good, you know what's what. This album is a similar case. Dennis Brain wasn't a 'good' French horn player, he was probably the best that there ever was or will be.

I've heard a lot of performance horn players. All you have to do to see what I mean is to wander through this website and pick off performances of the first movement of Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat and you will discover that Brain never blurbles a note, and every attack in the Allegro Maestoso is pinpoint. He is technically and tonally perfect and couples that with a superb musical sensibility. It was one of the great musical tragedies that he died at the age of 36.

Something to keep in mind is that when Mozart wrote these works for his good friend (and cheesemonger) Joseph Leutgeb, the French horn was a very limited instrument. Many of the notes were reached by stopping the bell to some degree, which affected volume and intonation. Mozart wrote to take advantage of Leutgeb's expertise at this, and Dennis Brain chooses to maintain this effect rather than just play his modern instrument with no thought to the past.

These compositions cover a fair range of time. Number 2(K.417) is really the earliest (1783). And the incomplete No. 1 (K.412) is really the last (1791). The best though, in both my mind and Mozart's is the Quintet in E flat for piano & wind. Mozart was a master in using instrument groupings in novel and powerful fashion and this is no exception.

EMI has remastered this CD over their previous release, which enhances clarity, and makes it easier to hear Dennis Brain's considerable finesse. I own their first release and the difference in clarity makes it worth finding this edition. But even the duller production of the 1997 is enjoyable. It you want a good selection of Dennis Brain's work on one CD this is an excellent buy.

The Mozart horn concertos are some of the sunniest and most purely enjoyable works in all of the western classical canon. Unlike many recordings touted as "great" or "original," Dennis Brain's recordings of these wonderful pieces with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic truly are among the great recordings of the twentieth century. Brain's tone, timbre and stamina are unmatched; Karajan and his cohorts are "in the zone" as well. Despite many attempts, I have never found another version that even comes close. Dennis Brain died tragically in an accident at the age of 36, but we can all be grateful that he was spared long enough to leave this splendid monument to the artistry of Mozart which has given so many generations of music lovers so much pleasure.

EMI has done an expert job of transferring these classic 1953 mono performances with Dennis Brain in Mozart's 4 Horn Concertos. These readings certainly sound better here than on my weathered Angel LP. They are the prize of this set. The Philharmonia plays beautifully, even if Karajan's conducting falls a tad short of capturing all the wit in these scores. I have assigned just 4 stars here only because:

1. Brain's earlier recordings of #2 (with the Philharmonia under Walter Susskind) and #4 (with the Halle Orchestra, no conductor's name specified) were even more brilliant and stylish than what is heard here. Those performances are on a Pearl CD, which I have not heard (mine are on the original 10-inch Columbia LP).

2. My favorite Horn Concerto is #2: its delightful hunting horn calls in the last mvt. are some of the happiest music Mozart ever wrote. To my taste, the greatest-ever recording of #2 is Brain's 1953 account with Hans Rosbaud and the South-West German Symphony. In that reading, all the witty repartee between the soloist and orchestra is realized to perfection (Rosbaud would have been a far better choice for this complete EMI set than Karajan, who tends to smooth out the orchestral playing in a manner better-suited to Bruckner). That superlative #2 is available elsewhere on the internet in a 2-disc Rosbaud set for $10 on the private label Disco Archivia. Among the set's other contents: a brilliant live account of Mahler's 6th Symphony.

3. This 1954 recording of Mozart's Quintet for Piano & Winds features Brain on horn, his brother Leonard on oboe, clarinetist Stephen Walters, the great Cecil James on bassoon, and pianist Colin Horsley. Frankly, except for James, Brain's playing here is head and shoulders above that of his collaborators (Horsley's is utterly anonymous). One year earlier Brain recorded a SUPERB account with Walter Gieseking (one of that great Mozartean's finest performances), James again on bassoon, plus the masterly Philharmonia principals Sidney Sutcliffe (oboe) and Bernard Walton (clarinet). That is available on a Testament CD (see my review), which also contains a simply WONDERFUL reading of Beethoven's work for identical forces, played by Brain and the same partners. An indispensable CD!

While there are other fine integral sets of the 4 Horn Concertos (e.g., James Stagliano and the Zimbler Sinfonietta on a long-ago Boston LP), this EMI recording is simply the ONE to have. If you'll forgive the expression, owning this EMI CD is truly a "know Brain" purchase.

Highly recommended.

Dennis Brain doesn't need presentations. He has been probably the best horn player ever lived. I have at least ten recordings of these pieces, including the Civil's one and others more recent (Baumann, Tuckwell...). But this one is my favourite. In my opinion the most impressive piece recoderded here is the 1st movement of the 1st concert (in D): Dennis plays the (very) technically difficult passages with a simplicity and elegance really amazing. This could be the focal point of Dennis playng: the elegance. Mozart concertos don't need to be played with too energy (is not Strauss!) and everythig (even the details) is already written on the scores; you have only to play it with grace, and Dennis is a master in this. Everithing he plays semm so easy...until you try to do the same! Furthermore his sound is great; the wonderful, dark sound that is the "mark" of the english school (Tuckvelll docet...). So, in my opinion this set should be a must for all the horn players, and an assential record for all music lovers.

The early death of Dennis Brain added another fatal victim to that decade. The fifties was possibly the most tragic decade in the Century. William Kapell in 1953, Guido Cantelli in 1956, Michael Rabin in 1958 and Dennis Brain's sudden disappearance marked the end of the finest horn in years. His Mozart performances have not rivals and his readings of Hindemith and Strauss Horn Concerts have not been beaten to date. Clarity, musicality, phrasing, elegance and refinement in the highest expression constituted his personal trademark.
Nobody did it better!
In memoriam!

Dennis Brain was one of the greatest horn players of all time. Perhaps no other collection of performances better exemplifies his delicate touch than this CD recorded in 1954. I have always held the Mozart horn concertos to be the most glorious, beautiful, and uplifting music ever written. When listening to these recordings I was forced to believe that this was exactly how Mozart wanted them to sound, and that Dennis Brain was truly born to play them. Some of these passages are very difficult to play, but Brain makes them appear absolutely effortless and graceful.

Brain died at the age of 36, and while that is an enduring loss to classical music, I am genuinely grateful that he had the opportunity to make these recordings before he passed away. This is a recording that every music lover should own. Despite the age of the recording, the sound is crisp and clean, making repeated listening enjoyment assured.

THE staple for the Mozart Concertos. I recommend having several recordings of the Mozart Concertos if you are a serious horn player or student, but if you were to only buy one in your life, buy this one. Brain was not only a virtuoso horn player, but he was also regarded as one of the finest performers of Mozart in history. Here we find the fusion of these two magnificent gifts into an album that captures every bit of the hunting spirit that these concertos were meant to convey. It's marvelous what this man did with pianissimo- the end of the Rondo movement of Concerto no. 1 in D and the end of the Rondo movement of the Concerto no. 2 to site a few examples. A pity that he left the world at such a young age, but thank goodness for what he DID leave us!

The Mozart Horn Concerti are a standard for French Horn players from high school to the greatest orchestras of the world. Dennis Brain, whose life was tragically ended in an automobile accident well before he reached his prime, plays the Mozart Concerti as no one ever has, or ever will. If you own only one CD of french horn music, this is THE one to own.

Great recordings of the century, and that is what it is.
Herbart von Karajan conducting, and Dennis Brain on horn tells it all; a wonderful rich music experience are waiting for you.
In my ears its probably one of the best recordings ever made of the horn concert. And even though its from the mid 50`s it comes in a wonderful remastered CD.
The CD comes with a very good booklet in English; telling the story behind the record.
I highly recommend this album