Mozart: Horn Concertos Martin Owen, Manchester Camerata & Gábor Takács-Nagy

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412:
• 1 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412: I. Allegro 04:48
• 2 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412: II. Rondo. Allegro 03:40
• Horn Concerto No. 2 in E Flat Major, K. 417:
• 3 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E Flat Major, K. 417: I. Allegro maestoso 06:23
• 4 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E Flat Major, K. 417: II. Andante 03:43
• 5 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E Flat Major, K. 417: III. Rondo. Allegro – Più allegro 03:40
• Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K. 447:
• 6 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K. 447: I. Allegro 06:51
• 7 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K. 447: II. Romance. Larghetto 04:29
• 8 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K. 447: III. Allegro 03:53
• Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, K. 495:
• 9 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, K. 495: I. Allegro maestoso 08:13
• 10 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, K. 495: II. Romance. Andante cantabile 04:45
• 11 Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, K. 495: III Rondo. Allegro vivace 03:56
• Rondo for Horn and Orchestra in E Flat Major, K. 371:
• 12 Mozart: Rondo for Horn and Orchestra in E Flat Major, K. 371 05:39
• Total Runtime 01:00:00

Info for Mozart: Horn Concertos

Martin Owen is regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, performing as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. He currently serves as Principal Horn of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, and the Haffner Wind Ensemble. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed all these pieces for the virtuoso horn player Joseph Leutgeb (or Leitgeb) (1732–1811). Leutgeb was born in Vienna, where he established his reputation as a soloist before working in Salzburg, the city where Mozart met him. Martin Owen writes: "In this recording, we have sought to convey a more youthful verve in the earlier works—indeed, reflecting that of Joseph Leutgeb himself, for whom they were written—in contrast to the Concerto in D. The latter is, in many respects, a swan song for both soloist and composer; in our performance of it, I hope we demonstrate a greater depth of tone and a higher degree of maturity. I was fascinated to learn that, in 1990, sixty bars of music were discovered at a Sotheby’s auction—passages subsequently confirmed as belonging to the Concerto Rondo, K. 371. When I was young, I knew the work only without these bars, and I always felt that the transition to the next section was far too abrupt! Now, it makes perfect sense."

Martin Owen, horn
Manchester Camerata
Gabor Takacs-Nagy, conductor

Martin Owen
Regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, Martin Owen appears as a soloist and chamber musician all around the world. He currently holds the position of principal horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, and Haffner Wind Ensemble, having served as principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, on a temporary contract, as solo horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

He has performed concertante works by Britten, Elliott Carter, Oliver Knussen, Messiaen, Mozart, Thea Musgrave, Schumann, Richard Strauss, and Weber with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, Ensemble Modern, Orquesta Nacional de España, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucharest, and New World Symphony, under conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Martyn Brabbins, Edward Gardner, Oliver Knussen, Sir Roger Norrington, Sakari Oramo, David Robertson, Dalia Stasevska, Michael Tilson Thomas, and John Wilson. He has recorded concertos for many labels including Linn, RPO, Dutton, BBC, Signum Classics and Bridge records, and on Chandos records, following three critically acclaimed releases: Strauss, Schumann and Weber with the BBC Philharmonic (2023), trios by Brahms, Ligeti and Mozart (2024), and Ruth Gipps’s Horn Concerto also with the BBC Philharmonic (2025), Martin will record the Mozart Horn Concertos with Manchester Camerata/Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Martin Owen is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is Alfred Brain Professor of Horn, and is French horn tutor to the European Union Youth Orchestra. He has appeared on hundreds of film and television soundtracks, among them the Star Wars, Harry Potter, James Bond, and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, as well as a plethora of Marvel movies! He lives in the Surrey Hills with his wife, Anna, a violinist.

Gabor Takacs-Nagy
Born in Budapest, Gábor Takács-Nagy is considered one of today’s most authentic exponents of Hungarian music and was awarded the Liszt Prize in 1982 and in 2017 the prestigious Béla Bartók-Ditta Pásztory Prize. In March 2021 he received the Érdemes Művész award for Artist of Merit, presented to artists of long service in Hungarian national culture, and in December 2021, the Prima Primissima Prize, reserved for artists, athletes, and representatives of scientific life, culture, and education for their performances and exemplary human qualities and values. In March 2024 he received the highest award in Hungary, the Kossuth Prize, which acknowledges outstanding achievements in the fields of culture and the arts.

From 1975 to 1992 he was founding member and leader of the acclaimed Takács Quartet. In 1996 he founded the Takács Piano Trio and in 1998 established the Mikrokosmos Quartet.

In 2003 he turned to conducting and in 2007 was appointed Music Director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. In September 2011, he became Music Director of the Manchester Camerata, one of the UK’s leading chamber orchestras, and is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra since September 2012. He was Professor of String Quartet at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva until August 2021 and was awarded honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London in June 2012. In 2013 he became a Swiss citizen.

Gabor Takacs-Nagy has conducted the Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Toulon, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic , Hungarian National Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, BBC Symphony Orchestra Wales, Orchestra della Scala Milan, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne amongst others. Since June 2024 he is Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota.

In June 2023 Deutsche Grammophon released the live recordings of the nine Beethoven symphonies with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.

Booklet for Mozart: Horn Concertos