These 1979 recordings first appeared as high-end analog LPs, and sound no different remastered as a budget CD. Tempos are brisk yet never to the point where the melodic shape is garbled. Conductor Gerard Schwarz obtains clear textures in the First Brandenburg’s difficult-to-balance Allegros, as the woodwinds and hunting horns joust for attention. Likewise, the stratospheric trumpet solo dominating the Second Concerto takes its rightful place within the ensemble, rather than dominating the proceedings. Who is the calmly proficient trumpeter here? He or she is uncredited, as are all Schwarz’s splendid soloists. The exception is Ransom Wilson, whose name is listed next to the Fourth Concerto. But there are two flute parts! Did Wilson overdub himself? A neat little violin cadenza fills out the two connecting chords linking the Third Brandenburg’s outer movements. If modern instruments, good musicianship, generic production values, and no promise of Schwarz’s remaining Brandenburgs are okay in your book, you’ll surely enjoy this disc.
