Right on! Thanks, Elk!

That's a great find Elk! Thanks.

Great catch Elk, thanks for the heads-up! I love free FLAC and the sound quality here is certainly very good.

However I've now had a chance to listen to these all the way through and I have to say that my first impression is that these readings are a bit of a "curates egg" from an artistic perspective. I mean that both in the sense of its modern literal interpretation, i.e. "good in parts", but also in its original context of a polite attempt to find something positive to say about something that wasn't really that good.

Take the horns in the first concerto for example. On first listening I thought maybe the recording had been miked and/or mixed by the first horn's brother! I know the horns are meant to be the 'solo' instruments but here they seem to dominate the mix to an almost comical degree. If the difference between a bull and an orchestra is indeed (as the old joke goes) that the orchestra has the ass at the front and the horns at the back then this is, well, bull!

On second listening however I started to feel that it was actually the playing that is to blame and there probably wasn't much the poor producer could do about it. The playing seems to lack nuance and refinement and sounds to my ears quite "shouty". I know that baroque wind instruments are notoriously difficult to play and that this is quite a challenging piece (yadda yadda yadda...) but I have to say I still think it sounds ragged.

You're a brass man yourself, I'd be interested in your opinion. Am I whistling dixie here?

By the way, for baroque horn "done right" I would warmly recommend Nikolaus Harnoncourt's reading of three Haydn Symphonies with the Concentus Musicus Wien.

I have to say I am not usually a fan of Harnoncourt whose interpretations often strike me as very "serious" and lacking any sense of fun or charm. However this album is charm personified and the musicianship, particularly those lovely horns, is of the highest order (there is also some beautiful natural trumpet playing by Andreas Lackner and Martin Rabl in "La Chasse").

Teldec 4509-90843-2 if you don't already have it.

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By the way, for baroque horn "done right" I would warmly recommend Nikolaus Harnoncourt's reading of three Haydn Symphonies with the Concentus Musicus Wien.

I have to say I am not usually a fan of Harnoncourt whose interpretations often strike me as very "serious" and lacking any sense of fun or charm. However this album is charm personified and the musicianship, particularly those lovely horns, is of the highest order (there is also some beautiful natural trumpet playing by Andreas Lackner and Martin Rabl in "La Chasse").

Teldec 4509-90843-2 if you don't already have it.

Hi struts,

I assume the three symphonies you are speaking of on the disc are the 31, 29 & 73. Correct? I searched Amazon and couldn't find a Teldec release. I did find three other releases by the same players-
Elektra/Wea 10/4/94
Elatus 4/14/06
Apex 5/24/06

Are these the same as the Teldec release?

Thanks,
Bob

Hey Bob,

Yes, these are all the same. Harnoncourt has only recorded these pieces once, No. 73 in December 1992 and Nos. 31 and 59 (assume that's what you meant) in November 1993, all at the Casino Z

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Thanks, guys!

Added to my list of CD's to buy next.

Mine, too! Thanks struts for the confirmation.

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Czech Radio has posted for download the complete concertos, performed by Musica Florea, under the direction of Marek