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Title: Heresy to say, but this mono-era classic has been surpassed
Review: Rather than saying that Dennis Brain was the greatest horn player of all time, I prfer to think that he began the age of superstar horn players. In their later recordings of Strauss's two virtuosic concertos, Barry Tuckwell and David Pyatt sound much more exciting than Brain, who also isn't helped by EMI's dated mono sound and the foursquare conducting of Sawallisch. Brain gives us a definitve reading of the Hindemith concerto, but this work hasn't exaclty caught on in the repertoire. I keep Brain's elegeant performances around as a Golden Age memento of a very appealing musician whose early death sealed his lasting reputation.
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