Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4 | Cecil James, Stephen Waters, ...

Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4 | Cecil James, Stephen Waters, ... | Mozart Would Have Approved--

classical music:

Mozart: Horn Conce...

	Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4 Cecil James, Stephen Waters, ... EMI Classics, 1999 average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Musical Paradise

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.

for more information click here

Mozart Would Have Approved--

--of Dennis Brain's graceful and elegant rendition of these concerti. Mozart abhorred pseudo-solemnity and Mr. Brain, with Van Karajan conducting, bestows the necessary gaiety and stylishness integral to Mozart's work.

Dennis Brain is a wonder. I find I cannot be satisfied with any other horn player after hearing him. He makes it all sound so simple; I cannot help but wonder, "why doesn't everybody play like that?" I'm sure they would if they could.

The sound is well balanced and rich. I need two copies of this CD, one to play my much beloved Concerto No. in D to my heart's content, and the other to listen to everything else (and "everything else" is very good indeed!)

for more information click here

The staple.

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!

for more information click here

His horn is immortal

I first heard this recording of Dennis Brain on an Angel long playing record when I was in high school on the island of Aruba in 1960. To hear the beautifully haunting sounds in the Music Appreciation class of Mr. Jan Koulman and then to learn that the musician who made this exquisitely ethereal music had died, just three years earlier, was a haunting lesson in mortality for an impressionable young girl. All of my lifetime I have been touched by the sounds of Dennis Brain's horn. These concerti have been companions when I was very happy and when I have been tremendously sad...the music made by Dennis Brain can celebrate or it can soothe...but, it never fails to touch my soul. As long as there are copies of these recordings and human hearts to be reached by the music written by Mozart and brought to life by Dennis Brain, they both will be immortal...and humankind forever enriched.

for more information click here

Beauty and Innocence

This is one of those rare albums you can listen to for hours on end and never tire of--every track, every note, blows a fresh happy gust of cheer into the room.