Composer: Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss, Carl Maria von Weber
Performer: Martin Owen, Chris Parkes, Alec Frank-Gemmill, Sarah Willis
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: John Wilson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN20168
Release: 2023
Size: 1.15 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Schumann: Konzertstück for four horns, Op. 86
01. I. Lebhaft
02. II. Romanze
03. III. Sehr lebhaft
Weber: Horn Concertino in E minor, Op. 45
04. I. Adagio – Andante
05. II. Andante con moto
06. III. Recitativo
07. IV. Polacca
Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11
08. I. Allegro
09. II. Andante
10. III. Allegro – Rondo
Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, AV132
11. I. Allegro
12. II. Andante con moto
13. III. Rondo
Regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, Martin Owen appears as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. Currently principal horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he has previously served as principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and as solo horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Weber’s Concertino was written for the old, valveless ‘natural horn’; its limited range of notes (tied to the harmonic series) was extended mechanically with additional tubing (‘crooks’) and, more artfully, by virtuoso players bending notes, and varied hand stopping. The technical demands of the Concertino are testament to the extraordinary facility of the hornists of the period. The first Horn Concerto by Richard Strauss, written at the age of nineteen, whilst a student, is widely considered his first uncontested masterpiece. Although the influence of Brahms and Schumann are evident, his own compositional voice is unmistakable. Strauss would continue to write significant parts for horn in all of his orchestral scores (possibly an influence of his father, who was a virtuoso hornist), but the second Concerto was not composed until 1942 – some sixty years later. The style is much more neo-classical, even ‘Mozartian’. Schumann’s riotous Concertstück for four horns opens the programme, and features three more outstanding soloists: Christopher Parkes (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia of London), Alec Frank-Gemmill (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), and Sarah Willis (Berliner Philharmoniker).