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This is the Swedish trumpeter's second recording, made in 1987 when he was only 26 years old (in the cover photo he looks quite boyish). The first time I heard him play, my jaw dropped and I could hardly believe my ears. His playing was a revelation--absolutely stunning. I'd never heard trumpet playing to compare with it. In my opinion, with his first two CDs young Hardenberger not only moved into the top rank of trumpeters; he swept right past his competitors to the head of the class. I've compared a number of his baroque concerto performances, here and elsewhere, with those of other famous trumpeters, and he always comes out on top. I believe him to be in a league of his own. He has everything: virtuosity and technique to burn, dead-on intonation, clean trills, smooth legato, expressive shading, beauty of tone, brilliant high notes, enormous dynamic range. He is also a sound musician, with taste and a sense of style. His arsenal is complete and unassailable; there is no chink in his armor.
While the star here is clearly Hardenberger, the ASMF under Brown provides exemplary support, and of the five concertos included here, several are concerted works: one uses three trumpets, one uses two trumpets, and three use two oboes.
The trumpet has always been a difficult instrument to record and reproduce accurately. Here, although the excellent digital recording presents Hardenberger very much front and center, it captures the timbre, "bite," and wide dynamic range of his trumpet with exceptional vividness and fidelity. On a top-quality playback system, he sounds like he's standing right between the speakers playing for you.
The only complaints one could make are (1) that this CD runs only 54:00--rather short measure by today's standards, and (2) that the enclosed booklet unfortunately contains no information about Hardenberger. But it's ungenerous to quibble in the face of playing like this. Not to be missed.
Long live the king!
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