Mozart: Horn Concertos (Concertos Pour Cor)
Pride of place in this repertory will always belong to Dennis Brain, the greatest virtuoso the horn has ever known. Here his legendary agility, fluidity, evenness of tone, and musicality are readily apparent, undimmed by the haze of a 40-year-old monaural recording. Von Karajan draws elegant work from the Philharmonia strings, although the recording boxes them in somewhat and leaves the basses sounding a bit light. In this remastering, the engineers appear to have shaved something off the top in order to limit tape hiss. Even so, the disc is a must for anyone who's even slightly interested in this repertory or in the magic of Dennis Brain.--Ted Libbey