Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos.1-4, Horn Quintet

Mozart's Horn Concertos are perhaps the most popular works ever written for the instrument. This album presents all the works Mozart wrote for his lifelong friend, horn player Joseph Leutgeb, who was one of the foremost players of his day. In these five works Mozart captures the public persona of an instrument most readily associated with all things hunting, but he also brings it indoors: lyrical episodes, and especially the slow movements, show the very soul of the instrument. Natural horn player Pip Eastop's technical ability and musical inventiveness are palpable in these hugely enjoyable renditions. He is accompanied by the Eroica Quartet and The Hanover Band led by Anthony Halstead (who has also provided an ending for the unfinished K417, Horn Concerto No 2 in E flat major).