Now, this is a superb disc by the
Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg led by
Ivor Bolton. Too often before,
Bolton and his light-toned and supple Austrian orchestra have gone wandering in the Brucknerian Alps...and gotten lost in the Adagios. But here they are at home among the bucolic beauties and pastoral pleasures of Mozart's horn concertos. Smoothly and brilliantly performed with soul and panache by the young
Johannes Hinterholzer, the orchestra's co-principal hornist, the concertos sound sweet, witty, kindly, and even occasionally a bit bumptious -- some of
Hinterholzer's self-composed cadenzas are every now and again a bit too outré. And the
Mozarteum-Orchestra, safely removed from the high Romantic peaks, sounds soft, warm, graceful, and elegant, while
Bolton, with his gentle gestures, affectionate phrasing, and deep-in-the-groove tempos sounds like a man in love. Captured in Oehms' rich, evocative 2005 recording,
Hinterholzer,
Bolton, and the
Mozarteum-Orchestra's horn concertos may not displace the greatest performances of the past --
Tuckwell, Civil, and
Brain's -- but his recording should be heard by anyone who loves the works, especially since it contains not only the four standard concertos and rondo, but also fresh reconstructions of a Rondeau and an Allegro moderato for an unfinished fifth concerto.