Haydn: Horn Concertos

Advantages: Two outstanding peices of chamber music for an unusual combination of instruments
Disadvantages: On the surface quite contrasting works, listener must be openminded

...The work of Ligeti has been at the forefront of Western avant-garde since his escape from the oppressive communist regime of Hungary in 1956, and he is widely appreciated as one of the most outstanding contemporary composers. The Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano because it was born out of a three-year period of illness and writer's block after the completion of Le Grand Macabre in which time he laboured over a piano concerto but completed only two short harpsichord pieces (Continuum and Hungarian Rock), yet the result in 1982 was the Trio, one of the finest and most complex pieces written so far. His career up to this point had included such sucesses as his Requiem, Atmosphères and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001. Tiring of his own cluster-textural techniques and the avant-garde, Ligeti refreshed his compositional... Read review

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Advantages: Exciting and moving performance, fine singers, orchestra and conductor
Disadvantages: None really

...and there were near riots as people tried to gatecrash the concert hall at the premiere on 30th April 1798. The success was immediate. In only a few years the piece had been performed all around Europe and continues to be a sure-fire hit to this day. The Artists: This recording is performed in what we call "HIPP" style - i.e. historically informed performance practice - as near as one can be to what Haydn would have heard back in 1798. The orchestra is the crack Canadian group Tafelmusik who all play on original or copies of instruments from the 17th/18th century. It makes a huge difference to the sound - the bite of gut strings and minimal vibrato in the string sections, a much mellower french horn tone, a trombone section which actually balances in the orchestra rather than blasting everything into submission, the unique... Read review

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Advantages: Good tuba muisc
Disadvantages: None

...The tuba has generally been ignored as a solo instrument, and although it enjoyed some success in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and the operas of Wagner, it didnt really emerge as a solo instrument until the 20th century. However, recently the tuba's potential as a soloist has been realised through the children's tale, Tubby the Tuba, where the whole point of the story is to highlight the fact that most peoploe would not think the tuba of being capable in taking a soloistic role, but the fact that it can take this role, and take it extremely successfully is shown here in this CD with these four Tuba Concerti, that were all written in the years after Tubby the Tuba. The first Tuba Concerto on the CD is Tuba Concerto (1978) by Edward Gregson. 1 - Allegro deciso 2 - Lento e mesto 3 - Allegro giocoso This concerto begins... Read review

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