These classic performances were recorded a year or so before Dennis Brain's tragically early death in a car crash at the age of 36, and they remind us of his pre-eminence as a horn player. Brain had a seemingly effortless command of his difficult and wayward instrument: he had a breathtaking agility, and he produced a bright, beautifully rounded quality of tone which was instantly recognizable.
The two Strauss concertos come from the beginning and the end of the composer's career. Neither work shows Strauss at his best, but Brain's performances are magical. Fortunately his solo playing is well preserved by the recording, but the same cannot be said of the excellent Philharmonia Orchestra under Sawallisch, whose sound is seedy, sometimes even metallic, and very confined. I have just played the original Columbia LP issue and frankly find the sound there much superior.
EMI's transatlantic Angel colleagues have produced this reissue, and documentation is below UK standards. The disc itself is labelled stereo, but the Strauss concertos, which come from September 1956 sessions, were recorded in mono only. (EMI used stereo during this period only as an adjunct to the main mono operation, and if a stereo machine or its operator was unavailable then a mono tape only was produced.) Fortunately the Hindemith, which comes from November 1956 sessions, was recorded in stereo, and the quality is much better. I discussed Brain's superb performance only last April when it appeared in a ''Hindemith Conducts Hindemith'' LP collection (EH291173-1).
Baumann's Philips disc has much better sound, although it is not outstanding. He is an excellent player, with a lovely, warm tone, but his Strauss performances don't have so much character as those of Brain. Weber's Concertino, played in virtuoso fashion, completes his record.'