The two Browns, Timothy and Iona, generally do this music proud. Of course, there have been numerous successful recordings of Mozart’s four horn concertos–in fact, many more good ones that bad ones, starting with Dennis Brain’s famous EMI versions. And if Timothy Brown doesn’t erase memories of Brain, he’s still an admirable exponent of the English school of horn-playing, one of the very few instrumental performance traditions of which the British are justly proud. The disc’s several pluses include Iona Brown’s excitingly propulsive accompaniments, the inclusion of an alternate finale to K. 412 completed by John Humphries as well as the Concert Rondo K. 371, and Hänssler’s sonics, which are first rate. There’s a lot of competition in this music, but this disc is a contender in every way.
