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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a real bargain. Mozart is thought of as having written four horn concertos, but in fact the first (probably written last!) was finished by Sussmayr. Here we have not only Sussmayr's completion, but also a reconstruction of Mozart's original thoughts. We also get a Rondo, and an incomplete fragment of a concerto in E major. One of the well-known concertos even has extra bars in that were recently discovered. So this is a very complete look at the music, and it's also very well played and recorded. Definitely worth buying!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the all-time great Radio 3 programmes I've heard was during a week-long series on Mozart's fragments. Although I only caught one of them it was enough to reveal that several fragments showed more invention than many of Mozart's completed works. Of these fragments, a Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello and piano, a piece for clarinets and basset horns and an Allegro for horn were particular highlights. The last mentioned piece (K494a) is included on this disc.
Interestingly, K494a is the only piece on this CD left as a fragment. Two others (K370b and K514) were completed by John Humphries and Franz Sussmayr (of Requiem completion fame). The question is: do the pieces actually need completion? The abrupt ending of K494a tells us that it was abandoned for some reason, and it sounds none the worse for lacking a cadence, development or recapitulation. It is presumably Mozart we want to hear, not a modern editor, so why bother?
Anyway, these extra pieces are a real bonus, their collective quality being at least as high as those works in the established 'canon' of four concertos and that Rondo completed by Sussmayr. As this edition makes clear, however, the distinction between Mozart canon and apocrypha for horn is somewhat blurred. The established Concerto No 1 in D features a dubious ending (by Sussmayr again), so doubtful, in fact, that an alternative ending is provided here by (who else?) John Humphries.
According to musical legend, Beethoven is believed to have said of Sussmayr that if he did indeed write much of Mozart's Requiem, then he too was a Mozart. But what of John Humphries and his reconstructions and completions? Is he another Mozart? Or even another Sussmayr? Well, he seems competent enough to disguise the joins between Mozart and Humphries, let's put it that way, and probably sensible enough to try and do the minimum of Mozart's 'writing' for him. Ultimately, however, we don't know, because we've no way of knowing exactly where Mozart left off - not without visiting various European libraries, at least.
Michael Thomas and the Bournemouth Sinfonia convey the joie de vivre of these works written for an instrument and a player (the Mozart family's old friend, Joseph Leutgeb) that brought out the more vivacious and playful side of Mozart's musical personality. All of the pieces here are in major keys (mostly Eb, to suit the nature of the horn) and the usual Mozartian shadows are banished.
This CD is memorable not just for the reconstruction and editing of John Humphries. He also provides excellent accompanying notes in which he tells us, for instance, that Mozart's son gave his father's manuscript pages away as souvenirs (whether of K370b or K371 or both isn't entirely clear though) and that one of such manuscripts, containing 60 bars of musical notation, was recovered as recently as 1989, a mere six years before the recording was made.
Both musically and musicologically, a real treat.
Interestingly, K494a is the only piece on this CD left as a fragment. Two others (K370b and K514) were completed by John Humphries and Franz Sussmayr (of Requiem completion fame). The question is: do the pieces actually need completion? The abrupt ending of K494a tells us that it was abandoned for some reason, and it sounds none the worse for lacking a cadence, development or recapitulation. It is presumably Mozart we want to hear, not a modern editor, so why bother?
Anyway, these extra pieces are a real bonus, their collective quality being at least as high as those works in the established 'canon' of four concertos and that Rondo completed by Sussmayr. As this edition makes clear, however, the distinction between Mozart canon and apocrypha for horn is somewhat blurred. The established Concerto No 1 in D features a dubious ending (by Sussmayr again), so doubtful, in fact, that an alternative ending is provided here by (who else?) John Humphries.
According to musical legend, Beethoven is believed to have said of Sussmayr that if he did indeed write much of Mozart's Requiem, then he too was a Mozart. But what of John Humphries and his reconstructions and completions? Is he another Mozart? Or even another Sussmayr? Well, he seems competent enough to disguise the joins between Mozart and Humphries, let's put it that way, and probably sensible enough to try and do the minimum of Mozart's 'writing' for him. Ultimately, however, we don't know, because we've no way of knowing exactly where Mozart left off - not without visiting various European libraries, at least.
Michael Thomas and the Bournemouth Sinfonia convey the joie de vivre of these works written for an instrument and a player (the Mozart family's old friend, Joseph Leutgeb) that brought out the more vivacious and playful side of Mozart's musical personality. All of the pieces here are in major keys (mostly Eb, to suit the nature of the horn) and the usual Mozartian shadows are banished.
This CD is memorable not just for the reconstruction and editing of John Humphries. He also provides excellent accompanying notes in which he tells us, for instance, that Mozart's son gave his father's manuscript pages away as souvenirs (whether of K370b or K371 or both isn't entirely clear though) and that one of such manuscripts, containing 60 bars of musical notation, was recovered as recently as 1989, a mere six years before the recording was made.
Both musically and musicologically, a real treat.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Good to have the four horn concerti and some other fragments on one CD. They all seem ably played and the technical aspect of the production is not to quibble about at the price.
Michael Thompson was not an artiste I had previous knowledge of, but he acquits himself well here, except that he does take a less-than-quick reading of all the passages marked "allegro". Although this helps to bring out the orchestral detail, and often provide a kind of lilt that is lacking in most other renditions, I cannot help feeling that he should have got more of a move on; he is clearly capable of playing just about anything at any speed, but his metronome seems to have a speed limiter in place.
An enjoyable collection nevertheless, once you have adjusted your expectations of the tempi.
Michael Thompson was not an artiste I had previous knowledge of, but he acquits himself well here, except that he does take a less-than-quick reading of all the passages marked "allegro". Although this helps to bring out the orchestral detail, and often provide a kind of lilt that is lacking in most other renditions, I cannot help feeling that he should have got more of a move on; he is clearly capable of playing just about anything at any speed, but his metronome seems to have a speed limiter in place.
An enjoyable collection nevertheless, once you have adjusted your expectations of the tempi.
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