Bravura – Works for Natural Horn and Piano
Louis-Pierre Bergeron; Meagan Milatz
ATMA ACD2 2864 (atmaclassique.com/en)
The natural horn, like its successor the French horn, has, in the right hands, a buttery, full and round timbre and tone that makes one wonder why you would ever again listen to the more strident trumpet. And on ATMA Classique’s terrific 2024 recording, Bravura: Works for Natural Horn and Piano, that question is indeed put to the test.
Making his recording debut as a leader, the virtuosic Canadian hornist Louis-Pierre Bergeron demonstrates just how beautiful and expressive this pre-19th century brass instrument can be. Ably accompanied by Meagan Milatz on the Classical-era Fortepiano, this sympatico duo mines a set of repertoire that includes impressive works, largely new to me, by Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikolaus Freiherr von Krufft and Vincenzo Righini in order to feature this unique instrumental pairing. Take, for example, Cipriani Potter’s Sonata di bravura for Horn and Piano in E-flat Major that captures Bergeron and Milatz at their most expressive and playful. Over 20 minutes in length, this multi-themed piece affords both principals space to showcase their renowned musical abilities, while offering room for the antiquated instruments to interact within a decidedly modern recording context.
As a studio musician, hornist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and a frequent collaborator with Tafelmusik and various pop ensembles, Bergeron is clearly used to this blending of the old with the new. But for listeners new to the instrumental pairing here, Bravura is unexpectedly refreshing, exciting and musically satisfying.
