Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Johannes Hinterholzer
Orchestra: Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg
Conductor: Ivor Bolton
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Oehms
Catalogue: OC567
Release: 2006
Size: 259 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, K417
01. I. Allegro maestoso
02. II. Andante
03. III. Rondo
Horn Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, K447
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Romanze
06. III. Allegro
Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major, K495
07. I. Allegro maestoso
08. II. Romance. Andante cantabile
09. III. Rondo. Allegro vivace
Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major, K412 (K386b) (Reconstructed by J. Humphries)
10. I. Allegro
11. II. Rondo. Allegro
Fragment in D major, K514 (completed by F.X. Sussmayr)
12. II. Rondo. Allegro, K. 514
13. Rondo in E-Flat Major, K. 371 (recons. J. Humphries)
14. Fragment: Horn Concerto in E Major, K. 494a (ed. J. Humphries)
Now, this is a superb disc by the Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg led by Ivor Bolton. Too often before, Bolton and his light-toned and supple Austrian orchestra have gone wandering in the Brucknerian Alps…and gotten lost in the Adagios. But here they are at home among the bucolic beauties and pastoral pleasures of Mozart’s horn concertos. Smoothly and brilliantly performed with soul and panache by the young Johannes Hinterholzer, the orchestra’s co-principal hornist, the concertos sound sweet, witty, kindly, and even occasionally a bit bumptious — some of Hinterholzer’s self-composed cadenzas are every now and again a bit too outré. And the Mozarteum-Orchestra, safely removed from the high Romantic peaks, sounds soft, warm, graceful, and elegant, while Bolton, with his gentle gestures, affectionate phrasing, and deep-in-the-groove tempos sounds like a man in love. Captured in Oehms’ rich, evocative 2005 recording, Hinterholzer, Bolton, and the Mozarteum-Orchestra’s horn concertos may not displace the greatest performances of the past — Tuckwell, Civil, and Brain’s — but his recording should be heard by anyone who loves the works, especially since it contains not only the four standard concertos and rondo, but also fresh reconstructions of a Rondeau and an Allegro moderato for an unfinished fifth concerto.