The florid, over-the-top
typography on the CD booklet is a good
metaphor for the playing on this disc.
The Virtuoso Horn Duo, founded in 2002,
is dedicated to ‘highly melodic, sometimes
traditional and often technically dazzling
horn playing’ and that is certainly
what you get. But is that enough?
The Duo’s co-founder,
Texan Kerry Turner, has the right credentials
for this repertoire. A composer, member
of the American Horn Quartet and the
Luxembourg Philharmonic he has played
and taught around the world. His compatriot
Kristina Mascher has played first horn
in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra
under Claudio Abbado and also manages
to combine playing in the Duo with teaching
and other concert performances.
So, does this duo dazzle?
Indeed they do, and then some. The Haydn
is easily the most accomplished work
on the disc, the opening Allegro
maestoso blending good spirits with
a more elegiac central section. The
soloists – placed much too far forward
– are certainly up to the technical
demands of this music but the Sinfonietta
Cracovia sound somewhat scrawny, especially
in the upper strings, an impression
reinforced by the overweening soloists.
The horns are not particularly
warm toned in the Romance and
the tempi seem a little sluggish too.
The delightful ‘chugging’ motifs that
anchor the Rondo are nicely articulated
and give the music a welcome lilt but
there is something rather brazen about
the horn playing throughout. This is
Papa Haydn in genial and inventive mood
and the music could really do with some
classical restraint plus a dash of warmth,
wit and charm.
Part of the problem
is the Duo’s emphasis on sheer virtuosity
at the expense of subtlety. The horn
playing at the start of the Vivaldi
is a case in point. The decorative Baroque
style is very much in evidence but the
horns really do dominate and, in the
more exposed writing, they sound rather
raw. As in the Haydn the slow movement
sounds much too leaden, the recessed
strings struggling to make themselves
heard above the rampant horns. To be
fair the Vivaldi sounds rather relentless
in this transcription, lacking any sense
of scale and balance.
The Bohemian-born composer
Anton Rössler – who changed his
name to the more Italianate Antonio
Rosetti – was a contemporary of Haydn
and Mozart. He is best known for his
horn concertos, which Mozart scholar
H. C. Robbins Landon suggests are the
models for Mozart’s works in the genre.
Certainly the extended instrumental
introduction is promising until the
horns barge into the room and all polite
conversation is quickly stilled. At
this point one might be forgiven for
surreptitiously checking one’s watch
and planning a quick getaway. Not great
music by any means but even the charm
of the Romance has little chance
to shine through all this bluster.
Kerry Turner’s ‘Twas
a dark and stormy night for two
horns and strings ought to bring
some respite but instead it offers more
of the same. There is the now familiar
stridency from the horns but this time
without even the tiny compensation of
memorable music to go with it. It’s
described as a ‘tone poem’ but one would
be hard pressed to work out exactly
what scene it attempts to paint. Its
vaguely Mahlerian horn at the start
raises expectations but, regrettably,
the rest turns out to be as clichéd
as the title.
Altogether a very disappointing
disc. These are clearly two players
with large personalities and a sound
to match and the blatant recording does
them no favours. As for the Sinfonietta
Cracovia they are consigned to the musical
wilderness, unable to make themselves
heard in such voluble company. The liner
notes are barely adequate and at a shade
under 54 minutes the disc is hardly
good value. In short, attractive music
deep-sixed by overpowering soloists
and an underpowered orchestra.
Dan Morgan
for details
The Virtuoso Horn Duo (Kerry Turner;
Kristina Mascher) 
