Document

  1989
    March 1989
        Orchestral
                Mozart Horn Works.

Mozart Horn Works. Lowell Greer (natural hn); Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan.

Harmonia Mundi (Full price) (LP) HMU7012; (Cassette) HMU40 7012; (CD) HMU90 7012 (62 minutes: AAD).

Horn [Concerto] Concertos—No. 1 in D major, K412/386b; No. 2 in E flat major, K417; No. 3 in E flat major, K447; No. 4 in E flat major, K495. [Rondo] Rondos—E flat major, K371 (cpted. Greer); D major, K514 (cpted. Jeurissen).

Horn [Concerto] Concertos—selected CD comparison:

Halstead, Hanover Band, Goodman (8/88) NI5104

This disc offers a slightly different selection of music from the Nimbus one by Anthony Halstead cited above. Both give the three concertos that survive in fully authentic form, of course; to these Halstead adds the D major work, with its second movement (surviving only as a fullish sketch) completed, and the E major fragment of a first movement, while Lowell Greer gives the D major in the standard version (the second movement completed and expanded by Sussmayr) plus a different completion of the Mozart original and a reconstruction of the E flat Rondo, K371. There are a few things that aren't quite convincing about Greer's own reconstruction of the Rondo (some of the problems set by Mozart are of a kind that only he knew the answer to!), but it is a lively piece and worth hearing. On the other hand, it seems to me quite unnecessary to waste space on the poorish, sometimes quite clumsy Sussmayr completion when a more authentic version is given too.

Still, it is on the playing that the choice between these two discs turns; and the excellence of both makes it difficult. The American orchestra on the new disc provide a brighter, sharper sound than the Hanover Band, and their playing is very alert. Greer is a highly accomplished player of the natural horn; some may prefer his rather more forthright and well-defined sound to Halstead's somewhat softer, rounder tone—I enjoy both and would not care to recommend one above the other. I find Greer's playing very musicianly: unusually graceful in the phrasing of the quick movements, with gentle, thoughtful playing in K417 and some lovely smooth and clear lines in K495, while the slow movements are all beautifully done—the Romance of K447 refined and graceful, that of K495 often truly poetic with happy details of timing. And there is no shortage of wit in the finales, or of high spirits. Greer improvises his cadenzas: in the first movement of K495 he does, rightly I think, simply a longish flourish, with no reference to the themes of the movement. In the final resort, Greer's delicate handling of the slow movements and the flaws in the Nimbus recording, with its clangy continuo, incline me towards the new disc, but I could be very happy with either.

SS



		This disc offers a slightly different selection of music from the Nimbus one by Anthony Halstead cited above. Both give the three concertos that survive in fully authentic form, of course; to these Halstead adds the D major work, with its second movement (surviving only as a fullish sketch) completed, and the E major fragment of a first movement, while Lowell Greer gives the D major in the standard version (the second movement completed and expanded by Sussmayr) plus a different completion of the Mozart original and a reconstruction of the E flat Rondo, K371. There are a few things that aren't quite convincing about Greer's own reconstruction of the Rondo (some of the problems set by Mozart are of a kind that only he knew the answer to!), but it is a lively piece and worth hearing. On the other hand, it seems to me quite unnecessary to waste space on the poorish, sometimes quite clumsy Sussmayr completion when a more authentic version is given too.



		Still, it is on the playing that the choice between these two discs turns; and the excellence of both makes it difficult. The American orchestra on the new disc provide a brighter, sharper sound than the Hanover Band, and their playing is very alert. Greer is a highly accomplished player of the natural horn; some may prefer his rather more forthright and well-defined sound to Halstead's somewhat softer, rounder tone—I enjoy both and would not care to recommend one above the other. I find Greer's playing very musicianly: unusually graceful in the phrasing of the quick movements, with gentle, thoughtful playing in K417 and some lovely smooth and clear lines in K495, while the slow movements are all beautifully done—the Romance of K447 refined and graceful, that of K495 often truly poetic with happy details of timing. And there is no shortage of wit in the finales, or of high spirits. Greer improvises his cadenzas: in the first movement of K495 he does, rightly I think, simply a longish flourish, with no reference to the themes of the movement. In the final resort, Greer's delicate handling of the slow movements and the flaws in the Nimbus recording, with its clangy continuo, incline me towards the new disc, but I could be very happy with either.