Concertos et quintettes pour cor

Description

Mozart’s Horn Concertos are probably the most famous works ever written for this instrument. This new album brings together all the works Mozart composed for his lifelong friend, the horn player Joseph Leutgeb (1732-1811), one of the finest of the era. In these five pieces, Mozart succeeds in capturing the character of this instrument often associated with the hunt; he takes the opportunity to bring it indoors: the lyrical episodes, especially the slow movements, highlight the very soul of the instrument, despite the perceptible limitations of the valveless horn. Leutgeb must have been a worthy recipient of these wonderful works. His modern successor on natural horn is the horn player Pip Eastop, whose technical abilities and musical inventiveness are evident in these highly enjoyable performances. He is accompanied by the ensemble The Hanover Band and Tony Halstead (the latter provided the ending of Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, K. 417, which was left unfinished).