The Vienna Horn is
so called because of its widespread
use, even today, in Vienna. But in fact
it’s not at all uncommon elsewhere:
even Yamaha make them, distributing
them worldwide. And many players - but
only confident professionals! - and
orchestras insist on them for the core
Romantic repertory. It differs from
what has become the standard horn (the
so-called double horn) by having a single
length of tubing, giving the harmonic
series of F: the double horn allows
the player to switch in, by means of
a fourth valve, a shorter length of
tubing in B flat enabling much more
secure delivery of high-lying notes.
The high price double-horn players pay,
a Vienna horn player will tell you,
is the tone quality of the smaller ‘half’
of the instrument - like going from
grand to upright? Because the notes
of the B flat harmonic series are further
apart, there is a loss in its singing
range of the characteristic lip-controlled
legato.
‘The Art of the Vienna
Horn’ makes for an interesting title:
but of course the music chosen for this
recital was, with the obvious exception
of the Schumann piece, written for a
very different and even simpler instrument,
with no valves. Even the Brahms, dating
as it does from 1865, some half a century
after the chromatic horn was invented,
was written for the old hand horn, in
which notes outside the harmonic series
had to be induced by crude hand-stopping
and lip adjustment! So the significance
of the use of a Vienna Horn in this
repertory might, unless you’re a horn
player, that is, be considered incidental,
even irrelevant.
Be all that as it may,
this is an excellent disc. The programme
gathers together the four most significant
chamber works written for the horn during
the fifty-or-so key years of its technical
development. As such, it’s an irresistible
collection, and will surely be attractive
to non-playing, as much as horn-playing,
would-be purchasers. The Beethoven’s
an early but delightful piece. The Schubert
dates from that annus mirabilis,
1828, the year of the last Quartets,
Sonatas and - even more significantly
- Winterreise. The Schumann is
utterly gorgeous: no other word suffices,
and its ‘neglect’ can only be explained
by the demands it makes on the player.
Of the four pieces, the Brahms - being
staple repertory diet - needs no introduction
from me.
Wolfgang Tomboeck is
a superb player, he plays in the Vienna
Philharmonic, so no surprises here,
commanding an impressively rounded and
full-bodied tone, with a positively
liquid legato. Everything, yes even
the chord at the end of the Schubert,
is perfectly in tune. Horn playing simply
doesn’t get better than this! His security
in the extremities of the instrument’s
range can only be wondered at. Listen
to the punchy bottom F in the opening
phrase of the Beethoven - perfectly
focused - or the way he soars effortlessly
up to the high F (three octaves higher!)
in Schumann’s Adagio.
His colleagues are
supportive. The pianist, Madoka Inui,
is a well-rounded musician - an unobtrusive
accompanist who follows rather than
leads. Genia Kühmeier, the soprano
in the Schubert, has a pleasant voice,
with clear diction: but her comparatively
narrow tonal range and unsteady trills
sound immature in this company. You
may feel the same of Tomboeck’s son,
Johannes, who possesses a rather glassy
tone, and cannot match the vocal authority
of Perlman in his classic recording
of the Brahms with Ashkenazy and Tuckwell.
But this piece does not require, you
may even say it does not benefit, from
big personalities at the helm.
There’s an interesting
competitor in this repertory and price
range in Andrew Clark’s EMI Debut disc
(7243 5 72822 2 2), which includes
both Beethoven and Brahms pieces. But
Clark uses a hand-horn, and his pianist,
Geoffrey Govier, uses a ‘period’ piano,
including an 1871 Bösendorfer in
the Brahms. A fascinating comparison,
then, but perhaps not a rival?
Tomboeck writes an
interesting essay for the liner, including
substantial notes on the Vienna Horn,
its history, its repertory - and its
justification! Unfortunately, the words
of the Schubert aren’t included.
Peter J Lawson
Wolfgang Tomboeck (horn), Madoka Inui (piano),
Genia Kühmeier (soprano - Schubert only),
Johannes Tomboeck (violin - Brahms only) 
