French Horn Playing: I think it has improved A LOT in the past 30 or so years
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| Posted on September 29, 2021 at 22:50:44 | ||
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Posts: 26477
Location: SF Bay Area Joined: February 17, 2004 Contributor Since: February 6, 2012 |
I remember when I was a young lad and I became interested in the Schumann Konzertstuck for 4 Horns and Orchestra, which has ever since that time been one of my absolute favorite works by Schumann. (If a composer ever knew how to take advantage of the idiomatic figures on a French Horn, it was Schumann!) My first experience with the work was hearing it on the radio in a mono Soviet performance with (IIRC) Alexander Gauk conducting on the Monitor label. People were amazed at this recording, because the horn parts are so hard (especially for the first horn) that there was rarely a performance where the performers emerged unscathed. That Gauk performance produced some sour grapes responses from critics here in the U.S., with some suggesting that there must have been 60-zillion splices which went into the making of it - just so the Soviets brag about the superiority of their communist system in producing great musicians. (Well, it was the Cold War, around the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis after all!) Not too long after that however, Nonesuch came out with a recording with Ristenpart and the Saar Chamber Orchestra, which was also IMHO very good - AND it was in stereo. Of course, in neither recording did we really know how much splicing was going on. The test of the work's difficulty was to perform it live, and that's just what happened in that same time frame (possibly even before the appearance of the Nonesuch recording) when the Curtis Horn Quartet performed the Konzertstuck with the Philadelphia Orchestra (and I now forget who was conducting). I eagerly tuned in the Philadelphia Orchestra broadcast that week to hear the "moment of truth" when the the work was performed "without a net" as it were. The result was a revelation to me - I have never heard SO many mistakes in a single performance as I did from the horn soloists in that Philadelphia Orchestra performance. Clams were flying out right and left, to the extent that I was starting to shudder every ten or so seconds as I anticipated the next whopper to sound. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I have a pretty good memory of the performance, because I taped the performance (on open reel tape!) off the air, and listened to it again and again in absolute horror over the next couple of years. Of course French Horn players have built up this mystique over the years that their instrument is the most untamable one in the whole orchestra - so you'd better expect some clams when you hear a live performance! You'd hear stories of some horn soloist coming out on stage to play the Strauss First Horn Concerto (with its "naked and alone" unaccompanied opening), and the soloist looking out at the audience and simply walking off the stage without playing a note. It's all just too darned exposed! (BTW, I prepared the Strauss Second Horn Concerto with the soloist who played it with the San Jose SO back in the 80's. His nerves didn't desert him, and he went ahead with the performance, but there were a number of clams even so.) So why am I telling you all this? It's because the foregoing is a kind of preamble to not one, but TWO in-concert performances on YouTube from the last couple of months, both of which I find absolutely MIRACULOUS in the technical acumen of the soloists. I just can't believe these performances - I did not hear ANY mistakes in these performances! The first of these performances, from May 21, is with Gergiev and the Munich PO: View YouTube Video The second is courtesy of the Frankfurt Radio SO with Alain Altinoglu conducting, from a concert just a month ago (August 28): View YouTube Video Words can't describe my admiration for both of these performances - I'm bowled over that we have two performances with this level of expertise given within such a short timeframe. I think the Munich PO performance has better articulation, while the Frankfurt RSO features some absolutely insane tempos which don't seem to bother the horn players at all! In reading the comments on both performances, I notice that a couple of posters have pointed out that some notes from the insanely difficult first horn part have been re-distributed to the other parts, especially in the last two movements. Well. . . all I can say is that I'm floored. I had no idea that the standard of horn playing these days had gotten so high. However. . . I do have a caveat: when the style of the video presentation involves so many quick cuts from one viewpoint to another, I suppose that it's possible that there was audio editing on both of these videos. I don't know for sure of course. Nevertheless, I'm incredibly impressed by the accomplishments of all eight of these horn players! Tutti bravi!
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| You surprise me, Todd!, posted on September 30, 2021 at 12:47:23 | |
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Posts: 26477
Location: SF Bay Area Joined: February 17, 2004 Contributor Since: February 6, 2012 |
I was pretty sure you'd bring up Myron Bloom, but I also expected you to mention some of the horn players in the current Japanese orchestras - have they not risen to the challenge? ;-) In any case, I agree with you in principle that it's generally better to hear a performance which risks a lot, even with a couple of minor fluffs along the way. Of course, the best is when a performance risks a lot and STILL emerges unscathed. ;-) And what's with your dislike of horn vibrato? I think you've been reading too many of jdaniel's posts and you need a diet of Peter Damm recordings. (Damm was the legendary first horn of the Dresden Staatskapelle from 1969 to 2002 and played with A LOT of vibrato!) Here's a sample of Damm in a horn concerto by Haydn. Vibrato not only from the orchestra, but also (unexpectedly!) from the soloist! Ah - this is living! View YouTube Video
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| RE: You surprise me, Todd!, posted on September 30, 2021 at 18:54:52 | |
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that was pretty nice despite YouTube SQ
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| That was de Peyer? Wow! I did not know that! [nt], posted on October 1, 2021 at 01:02:34 | |
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Posts: 26477
Location: SF Bay Area Joined: February 17, 2004 Contributor Since: February 6, 2012 |
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| Yes - with that caveat, it's not bad [nt], posted on October 1, 2021 at 01:04:53 | |
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Posts: 26477
Location: SF Bay Area Joined: February 17, 2004 Contributor Since: February 6, 2012 |
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| The Melos Ensemble, posted on October 9, 2021 at 11:05:56 | |
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Posts: 10583
Joined: April 12, 2002 |
DePeyer, and Cecil Aranowitz on Viola. Great Mozart and Brahms Quintets. They have some other Albums too.
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