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VIRTUOSO
HORN DUO
WORKS FOR
2 HORNS & CHAMBER ORCHESTRA by HAYDN, ROSETTI, TURNER & VIVALDI
KERRY TURNER
KRISTINA MASCHER
HORNS
Sinfonietta
Cracovia
DARIUSZ WISNIEWSKI
$14.95 ~
MS1181
INCLUDES
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
"Turner
and Mascher display admirable musicianship with deft passagework and nimble
dynamic marking...the solo playing is elegant in good 18th century
style...Turner floats a graceful solo in the Romanza with some artfully nuanced
dynamic shading."
Gramophone ~
October
2007
"Beautiful
works for two horns, expertly played."
American
Record Guide ~ September / October 2007
"Here's
another "find" from the Connecticut-based MSR Records company who
offers a wonderfully diversified catalogue of music you are not likely to find
elsewhere....The artists that appear on this disc...are indeed virtuosos of the
first rank...all the works on this disc [are] impeccably performed, with
outstanding support from the Sinfonia Cracovia under Dariusz Wisniewski's baton. ..The
interesting thing about this disc is that both hornists—obviously with similar
outstanding techniques and talents—vacillate as to which artist plays the
first horn part. The booklet indicates who plays first horn in each of the
movements of all pieces, something rather of nice to know, though both play with
such virtuosity and enthusiasm that it doesn't really matter at all. Another
point is that Kristina Mascher plays a Ricco Kühn triple horn whereas Kerry
Turner plays a Paxman triple. The two instruments blend and are voiced
perfectly...The
recording quality is outstanding with good balances between the soloists and
orchestra with very natural acoustics. If you are fond of brass music, and
especially the horn, this will be a recording you will want to add to your
collection, but if you enjoy music from the time of Haydn, this will add
substantially to your collection. The big news for me, however, is to make the
discovery these two supreme artists of the French horn, Mascher and Turner."
Classical Music Guide ~ June
2007
"...
all performed exquisitely...the balance and artistry of both players is most
effective..."
The
Horn Call ~ May 2007
"...
the music is all quite wonderful, as is the playing by both Turner and Macher.
Recommended to all classical collections." CD
Library HotList ~ May 2007
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It
is with great pleasure that we present these four works for two solo horns and
chamber orchestra. The opening concerto by Haydn has been a source of
controversy among horn players for quite some time. This charming and highly
melodic work has all the trademarks of a concerto by his contemporary, the horn
player Antonio Rosetti. Indeed, it would not at all have been unusual for
Rosetti to use the great Haydn name in order to sell what may have been his
finest piece of music. Apparently that sort of thing was done rather regularly
in those days. The version on this recording is from the first publication of
the Oettinger-Wallenstein Manuscript and was arranged by Edmond Leloir. The
concerto in E-flat by Rosetti, which we have included on this album, could
almost stand as proof of this theory as there are many similarities between the
two works. Antonio Rosetti understood the horn remarkably well- he was after all
a horn player- and this is quite evident in these two works. The version
recorded here of the Concerto Grosso number 11 from the larger group of works
entitled "L`estro armonico" is an arrangement that was presented to us
by Mr. Zoltan Varga with the request that we perform it at the Hungarian
International Horn Festival at Mór. After assessing its success, we decided to
include it on this recording.It has become a staple of our repertoire ever
since. The decision regarding the fourth work of the album was not an easy one.
There is, after all, a plethora of great concertos written for 2 horns and
orchestra-Bach, Vivaldi, Leopold Mozart, Kuhlau, Händel and Telemann, to name
just a few. Naturally we wanted to include something a little bit different and
perhaps something new. Thus we came upon the idea to rework a piece of mine
originally composed for solo horn and organ. We had previously performed this
piece rearranged for two horns and piano at a recital in Rome. At that time, I
knew that this Gothic-sounding work had not yet found its true home. Adding some
new material and a few special effects and reworking it for string orchestra
seemed to be an answer to this call. The story behind the piece is a simple one:
there is a writers´ competition called the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest,
inspired by the parenthetical, rambling, melodramatic opening lines of a novel
by the author of the same name. Contestants submit a sentence intended to open a
novel, usually comic or satirical in nature, along the lines of the original
"It was a dark and stormy night…" It just so happens that this is a
wonderful way to start a musical composition as well. I truly had no idea where
I was going with this work until I wrote the opening solo horn call- my version
of "Twas a dark and stormy night…"
Kerry
Turner
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The
Virtuoso Horn Duo,
Kerry Turner and Kristina Mascher, began performing in 2002. These two highly
accomplished horn players began studying, perfecting and performing the existing
repertoire for two horns, putting a particular emphasis on the concertos with
orchestra, many of which were written by very well known composers, such as
Haydn, Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann. After performing at the Britain in Luxembourg
Exhibition in 2002 , the Deputy Head of Mission wrote, "Exhibitors were
unanimous in praising the animation you helped to provide. The only complaint
was that they would have liked even more." Shortly thereafter, Kristina and
Kerry presented a recital and master class at the University of Prague and at
further venues in Luxembourg. They have traveled extensively, giving concerts to
enthusiastic audiences in Valencia, Spain at the International Horn Society’s
Annual Workshop, the 2nd Australian Brass Festival in Melbourne, Australia, at
the Academy of Music in Singapore, and at the Festival of Nations in Rome. The
VHD has also performed in the Southwest USA (including AIR Horns in Arizona) and
Germany. They have performed and offered master classes at Virginia Commonwealth
University and for the USAF Heritage of America Band, as well as appearing as
soloists with the Richmond Symphony. Mr. Turner and Ms. Mascher have also
appeared in concert and given master classes and lectures at the 2nd Horn
Festival in Mor, Hungary, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, the
Czech Horn Festival in Nove Straseci, as well as recording these concertos for 2
horns and chamber orchestra with the Sinfonia Cracovia and Dariusz Wisniewski.
The Virtuoso Horn Duo offers a program of highly melodic, sometimes traditional
and often technically dazzling horn playing, combined with world-class artistry
and execution.
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FRANZ JOSEF HAYDN
(1732-1809)
CONCERTO in E-FLAT
for 2 HORNS and ORCHESTRA
ANTONIO VIVALDI
(1678-1741)
CONCERTO NO.11
"L`ESTRO ARMONICO" for
2 HORNS and STRINGS
Transcribed from the
original for 2 violins and cello by Zoltan Varga
ANTONIO ROSETTI
(1750-1792)
CONCERTO NO.III
(16) (D.T.B.51)
Cadenza by Turner
KERRY TURNER
"TWAS A DARK
AND STORMY NIGHT" (2006) Tone
poem for 2 horns and strings
WORLD
PREMIERE
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