Alan Civil, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy St. Martin in The Fields - Mozart: The 4 Horn Concertos (1972/2002) [SACD]

Very nice, surprisingly agile playing from Alan Civil, but I have to say that Mozart did not typically compose for the French Horn (in German: Waldhorn) as lead instrument for a very clear reason–listening to Mr. Civil, a very impressive player who sometimes guested on Beatles album cuts, play W. A. Mozart’s rapid-fire flurries of notes is like watching an elephant do the mambo–it is possible, but it doesn’t come easily.
To my ears, it’s clear that other instruments, like the trumpet or piccolo trumpet would have been better suited to this style of symphony. The French horn, by contrast, lends itself much better to longer, more sustained notes where its large, dignified tones can resonate, rise and swell as a clarion call–or to ominously foreshadow a darker passage.
Hence, it may be that Mozart himself was commenting on that very clumsiness of the instrument by dedicating these pieces to renowned French Horn player Joseph Leitgeb, writing that he “has taken pity on Leitgeb, ass, ox and jester…” At times, the French Horn here does low like an ox and sound a bit like a donkey in other passages. (This is my pet theory, though, so feel free to shoot it all to pieces with impunity…)
The quad sound is nice–you really don’t miss the center channel in terms of imaging. As expected, there is not much low end in this 1971-vintage recording to waken the subwoofer from its slumber, but Pentatone has done a nice job with this–definitely recommended.