MOZART: Horn Concertos 1 and 4; Oboe Concerto; Bassoon Concerto – Katharina Arfken, oboe/ Donna Agrell, bassoon/ Teunis Van Der Zwart, horn/ Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/ Petra Mullejans, conductor – Harmonia mundi

by | Jan 3, 2008 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

MOZART: Horn Concertos 1 and 4; Oboe Concerto; Bassoon Concerto – Katharina Arfken, oboe/ Donna Agrell, bassoon/ Teunis Van Der Zwart, horn/ Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/ Petra Mullejans, conductor – Harmonia mundi 901946, 66:19 ****:

Those feisty fellows, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, launch into a new series (at least I think it is safe in assuming that the other wind concertos will follow) by giving us the first and last of the four canonical horn concertos along with the oboe and bassoon concerto. One’s reaction to this will of course be preconditioned by one’s comportment towards period winds. I must admit that rarely do I appreciate the playing of period oboists, finding their duck-like squawking simply inadmissible, and feeling that Mozart would have been much happier with the modern oboe sound. Bassoons are different—there is a very attractive nuance to the soft, non-bloated sound they made in yesteryear, and I am always very happy to hear one as well played as Ms. Agrell does on this disc. Horns can be a mixed bag. Valveless horns are notoriously difficult to play, and Mozart’s concertos must have posed a devil of a problem to his contemporaries. The notes are often uneven depending on how often the hornist has to change his hand position, so the timbre of any particular note is not often in alignment with the rest of a series, something valved instruments do not have to worry about.

The playing on this disc is all first rate, with the Freiburgers making a gusty, furiously exciting ruckus, the kind that only those who are either a) new to the music (certainly not the case here), or b) have a passionate love for the composer—obviously the case here. The lusty, punchy horn sound and rabidly zealous energy that all give this music makes for a very enjoyable experience. So while I am not going to state that these are the last words in Mozart wind playing (no period performance ever will be for me), I can say that what we get is excellent, and the spirit of the performances make up for any kind of detriment in instrumental mechanics. Great HM sound is a bonus.

— Steven Ritter 
 

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