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Bravura: Repertoire for natural horn and pianoforte

Louis-Pierre Bergeron horn, Meagan Milatz fortepiano
70:01
ATMA ACD2 2864

Perhaps the only familiar name on this recital of music for natural horn and piano is that of Beethoven, who is represented by his opus 17 Sonata. The other composers, Vincenzo Righini, Cipriani Potter, Nikolaus Freiherr van Krufft are largely unknown, while Franz Xavier Süssmayr is largely remembered as the man who completed Mozart’s Requiem. The common denominator among them all is unsurprisingly Vienna, to which they all gravitated at one time or another. The Beethoven is a recognised masterpiece of the genre, composed for the virtuoso Giovanni Punto, although it was probably Beethoven’s publisher Nikolaus Simmrock, also a horn player, who provided him with the necessary advice on how to write idiomatically for the instrument. Potter’s Sonata di Bravura (which provides us with the eye-catching CD title) is also associated with a horn virtuoso, Giovanni Puzzi, but it is as much the virtuoso piano part, presumably designed to show off the composer’s keyboard skills, that make this piece so attractive. In addition to playing the repertoire with admirable expressiveness and indeed bravura, the performers have made an astute choice of repertoire, and in addition to the Beethoven at least one piece – the Potter – is a considerable masterpiece deserving of further attention. Clearly horn players who have the Beethoven safely in their repertoire need to go in search of further gems in the wealth of repertoire from the same period. Bergeron plays a copy of a pre-classical valveless Viennese horn by Anton Kerner, while for the Beethoven, Krufft and Potter he plays a copy of a slightly later instrument by Lucien-Joseph Raoux, both of which have rich and flexible tone. Milatz plays a fine copy of a Viennese fortepiano of around 1792 by Anton Walter. The extensive programme notes include a fascinating essay by Claude Maury on the valveless horn.

D. James Ross

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