Selected comparisons:
Mozart Horn concerto: Dennis Brain,
Karajan/Philharmonia. EMI Classics CDM
5 66898 2 Review
Britten Serenade: Dennis Brain
(horn), Benjamin Britten (piano), Boyd
Neel String Orchestra/Benjamin Britten.
Decca 468 801-2 Review
Dennis Brain was a
real hero when I was a child. His recordings
of the Mozart horn concertos were among
the first things I ever heard and my
Grandpa’s old LP became a favoured treasure.
We also used to go past where his fatal
accident was to visit my other grandparents;
as my late sister used to say: Dennis
Brain was an icon. When his EMI recording
came out first on CD in 1988 it was
the most played ever, well over 100
times, and kept our young son quiet!
I’ve enjoyed the previous three BBC
Legends discs - all reviewed by MusicWeb
- and this is a real treat.
The Mozart is from
a Prom in 1953 and is in pretty good
mono radio sound. It’s interesting to
hear Brain under Sargent as Sir Thomas
Beecham famously described Karajan,
who would conduct Brain in the studio
a few months later as "a kind of
musical version of Sir Malcolm Sargent!"
It is a splendid performance with just
one small fluffed note. Despite the
RAH’s infamous acoustics the BBC engineers
did a great job capturing this highly
evocative rendition. Dennis knew these
works backwards
and Sargent shows what an underrated
conductor he was. As a 12 year old I
was taken to New Theatre Oxford to hear
him conduct Dvořák’s New
World. The slow movement is intensely
moving and as in the EMI version the
rondo is unique. Sargent provides impeccable
accompaniment and the BBCSO play like
a dream. There have been horn players
since who have played these works splendidly
but there was only one Dennis Brain.
This is an invaluable addition to the
sadly small number of recordings he
made.
Britten wrote the Serenade
for Brain and Pears and here they are
at the same Prom nine years after the
Decca recording which as the review
points out is in very poor sound for
1944. This was conducted by John Hollingsworth
who was assistant to Flash Harry
(Sargent) and like Brain in the
RAF in WW2. Tragically he died very
young, like Dennis, in 1963, of pneumonia.
From the research I’ve carried out his
recordings are mainly of British Film
music; here he conducts with great skill
and tenderness. The horn sound is captured
well and Pears is in sublime form. Some
reviewers found his sound recessed but
it’s certainly OK for me. Tully Potter’s
notes are up to his usual very high
standard and as he points out this live
recording does have an edge. Just one
example "Blow bugles blow"
(track 6) shows the special empathy
these artists had with Britten, and
what a talent he was! … Memories of
Owen Wingrave his first opera
for TV in the late 1960s. It was news
to me that Brain and Pears made two
studio recordings but Stephen Pettitt’s
Dennis Brain discography shows a recording
under Goossens which has only recently
come out on an Eloquence CD. I found
this whole performance very moving and
exhilarating and am delighted to be
able to tell others about its joys!
Schumann’s Adagio
is sometimes played on a cello but it
sounds great here. There is a studio
recording with the late great Gerald
Moore (Testament SBT1022) with
exemplorary accompaniment but Britten’s
contribution is very spirited and lively.
The Mozart Divertimento
is tremendous fun as is the piece by
Milhaud. The final work by Brain’s friend
Fricker is worth hearing. Apparently
he was in vogue about the time of the
broadcast but is virtually unknown now.
It’s not bad but lacks really memorable
‘hooks’. The ensemble with Morris’s
wooden flute is in fine form; all a
week before Dennis’s last trip.
All in all this is
another "must have" from BBC
Legends. It’s been really interesting
learning more of the musical scene at
the time and being reminded of a genius
sadly taken away at about the same age
as Mozart
David R Dunsmore
Dennis Brain (horn) 
for
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