Maurice Andre is a splendid trumpeter and he has successfully recorded many transcribed concertos, originally written for other instruments. But in my view Mozart's Oboe Concerto just sounds wrong on the trumpet, and loses its scale and much of its elegant charm. The work attributed to Haydn comes off rather more successfully (particularly the closing Rondo), but Bellini's piece, with its strong operatic flavour, brings a distinct reminder of the bandstand. (Not that I have anything against bandstands—I love a band concert in the park—but Bellini's work belongs to the concert hall!) Hummel, too, whose music can too easily sound facile, is not helped by the changed instrumentation, although once again the bravura sections come off best.
Good recording and generous playing time, but there are plenty of other Andre collections more satisfying than this.'