A rich sound here, and probably that has to do with the fact that this recording was made at a concert during the 1992 Mozartfest Wurzburg (there is applause, but quickly faded). In fact, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra are playing in that lovely old city's Kaisersaal, which has imperial-sounding resonances. In the Concerto the tone of Eberhard Marschall's bassoon has a fruitiness that old-time comics would relish. On its own terms, though, the overall sound is pleasing. The Concerto is the work of an 18-year-old and has no pretension to depth, yet the central Andante ma adagio with muted strings is a fine piece and this is an attractively tender performance. The cadenzas in this movement and the first are elegantly crafted and sensitively delivered. I like the bassoonist's wide dynamic range, which includes a true, yet expressive, pianissimo.
While the Concerto lasts about 18 minutes, the Posthorn Serenade is more than twice that length. Sir Colin Davis is completely at home in this music and brings to it grandeur and delicacy in good measure and judicious balance. The orchestra is large, including trumpets and timpani, and its woodwind section has much to do, sometimes of a soloistic nature, notably in the third and fourth movements: indeed the third is called Concertante. As for the posthorn which gives the work its nickname, it makes its appearance (as does a piccolo) in the Second Minuet that is the penultimate movement, and Johannes Ritzkowsky's instrument has a pleasingly authentic sound. Sir Colin rightly does not hurry the finale, despite the Presto marking that tempts less experienced conductors. '