Seven baroque concertos in a row, played with exuberant virtuosity by a master hornist brings over an hour of music, none of it great music, but pleasingly inventive and creating electricity from the bravura demanded of the soloist—met here with confident aplomb by Barry Tuckwell. The high tessitura of the bouncing first movement of the Knechtl has a counterpart in the opening movements of the two concertos Rollig concertos, their basic atmosphere more relaxed and galant but still demanding the most nimble articulation and controlled trills. Reinhardt's decorative writing is so florid that one feels at times there are almost too many notes, and the soloist is also tested by wide leaps in the melodic line, even in the siciliano slow movement. The siciliano format is also favoured by Quantz and Rollig (in both his concertos). I thought Quantz's No. 9 all-in-all the most engaging work here, featuring as it does a concertante oboe soloist, whose melodic line often graciously echoes that of the horn. But the Graun is a good piece also, quite short (the Adagio only lasts 1'53'' but is still memorable) and the outer movements are strong in character, particularly the finale with its snapping grace notes.
Throughout Iona Brown provides polished, stylish accompaniments: the sound made by the ASMF strings is clean and bright in allegros, seemingly reflecting the influence of the 'authentic' movement, although modern instruments are used by everyone (including the soloist) to excellent musical effect. The sound is fresh and transparent, the harpsichord continuo coming through realistically without a false balance. The LP offers excellent quality; the CD is that bit firmer and more tangible.'