Strauss, Hindemith, Brain, Sawallisch - Richard Strauss Horn concertos Nos. 1&2

Scintillating Strauss

For me, the first horn concerto of Richard Strauss is the finer work: it has all the ebullience of youth (rather like Beethoven's Pathetique sonata). The second concerto is mellower and has echos of Capriccio, which was composed about the same time.

Notwithstanding the presence of the inimitable Dennis Brain, the delight in this recording is the sparkling performance of the Philharmonia orchestra conducted by the under-rated Wolfgang Sawallisch. He memorably captures the passion of the first concerto and is equally at home with the more subtle nuances of the second. May 6, 2007

The Gold Standard 50 years later

It's hard to argue that the Strauss horn concertos have made their way into the standard classical repertoire that the Mozart horn concertos hold. That's too bad, because they are both excellent showpieces for the soloist, and the change in Strauss's style over time (the first horn concerto was completed in 1883; the second, in 1942) was remarkable. Both concertos are technically challenging for the horn player, of course; the second is a workout for the orchestra as well. And no recording features a performance as facile as the late brilliant Dennis Brain, whose mellow, dark tone hardly changes throughout all registers. One has no clue just how difficult these concertos are, listening to Brain's polished, relaxed, perfect execution.

Horn players are still in debt to Brain for his inspiration of Paul Hindemith's Horn Sonata, the Sonata for 4 horns, and the Horn Concerto, which fills out this re-release. Perhaps it's because I'm rather familiar with this concerto, but I find it more accessible than much of Hindemith's music, in part because the first two movements are shorter than usual, resulting in a concerto that lasts a compact 15 minutes. In this concerto, like the flute sonata, Hindemith has compact themes that still exploit his entire system of simple-to-complex harmonization within a few bars. The performance on this CD is both conducted by the composer and played by the performer for whom it was written.

There are other good recordings of these works, of course -- the Tuckwell recordings of the Strauss come to mind -- but they will all be heard in the shadow of the Brain recordings. An absolute requirement for fans of the French horn, and a rich addition to any classical CD collection. March 10, 2005

Brilliant Brain!

This CD from EMI features Dennis Brain, in my opinion the greatest horn player who ever lived. In his tragically brief life Brain recorded the definitive versions of numerous works, and although his Mozart horn concertos are my favorites, his treatment of Strauss is a close runner up.

Despite these recordings being from the mid-1950s, the musicianship of Brain still makes these the best available. While I like Strauss, I find Hindemith a bit derivative and monotonous, although with Brain's treatment still a delight.

These recordings are crisp and sonically well defined, despite the Strauss concertos having been recorded in mono. I am grateful to EMI for releasing these recordings on a single disc at a reasonable price. Horn lovers everywhere will relish in these recordings. I highly recommend this CD.
December 5, 2004

The Brain Behind Strauss and Hindemith

How does a performance remain definitive even after nearly fifty years? Answer: When it's played by Brain. Dennis Brain was arguably the greatest horn player to ever live. He also was the first to ever record the Strauss Horn Concertos (in 1947), and the Hindemith Concerto was dedicated to him, so he was tailor-made for this music. Despite the fact that all these recordings were made in 1956, the Strauss Concertos were taped earlier in the year and are in mono, while both Hindemith works from later that year are in stereo. The three Concertos have been available on CD previously (and still are) as a full-price title, but this remastered version from EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series offers superior sound and more music in the form of Hindemith's Concert Music for Brass and Strings. So I guess perfection can be improved on after all. August 16, 2003

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