Perhaps there is little to say here. Dennis Brain
is one of those artists, like Lipatti, Ferrier and Kapell, whose
tragically brief lives have raised them to myth status. Not all
myths stand up to investigation but this one does. You won’t hear
these concertos played with a more nobly projected tone, more
innately musical phrasing or more sheer sense of what they are
about. Listen to the dynamic shading around the development section
of the opening movement of no. 3. In some hands these works can
seem a bit of a muchness, but Brain finds a different character
for each one; joyful in no. 1, Magic Flute-ish in no. 2, more
intimate in no. 3 and grander in no. 4. It may be noticed that
in this last work, while not sacrificing the mellow purity of
tone displayed elsewhere, he adds just the tiniest trace of vibrato
to give greater body to the sound. He is well assisted in all
this by Karajan who shows his customary care for detail without
the over-preening which sometimes damaged his later Mozart readings.
Add to this a recording which still sounds extraordinarily well
– at times I seemed to be hearing stereo definition, an illusion
which a few of the very best mono discs were able to create –
and you have a winner.
The quintet recording, though slightly later,
wears its years less well, with close, overbearing piano recording
and unlovely wind sound. To tell the truth, I don’t think the
others are on Brain’s level and I wonder if the acidulous quality
of his brother’s oboe is all the fault of the engineering. But
never mind, even if you can do better for this particular work,
the concertos are the thing, and not all versions give you a coupling
at all.
This is unquestionably one of the "Great
Recordings of the Century". At the risk of muddying the waters
though, I have to point out that post-war Britain was extraordinarily
well-endowed with horn players and that the recordings by Civil/Klemperer
and Tuckwell/Maag are also in that category. Nor do I wish to
suggest that players from other countries, and some more recent
performers, have not produced fine recordings too. There are also
earlier recordings by Brain of some of the concertos and a notable
one of no. 3 by his father Aubrey.
Christopher Howell
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Dennis Brain (horn),
Philharmonia Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan (concertos), Colin Horsley (piano),
Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble – Leonard Brain (oboe), Stephen Waters (clarinet),
Cecil James (bassoon), Dennis Brain (horn) (quintet) 
