Search - Jacques-Francois Gallay, Bernhard Heiden, Johannes Brahms :: Shared Reflection

Farkas summarizes his life and plays a little

Clayton | Kirksville, MO USA | 03/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One would expect to hear more of Farkas' playing, rather than quartets performed by his students. Farkas' rendition of the "Unmeasured Preludes" are fabulously played, thrilling to hear. His shared reflections inspire one to achieve greater heights of perfection and enjoyment in one's own musicianship. The infectious nature of Farkas' love of the horn easily passes on to the listener in the interview sections."

For the horn player in your life.

David K McCurley | Woodstock, GA United States | 05/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a horn player or have a serious horn player (french horn, that is) in your life, this is a must have. There are several tracks of Farkas talking about horn playing which are priceless. The playing - etudes, orchestral excerpts and some orchestral snippets are a valuable record of this extremely important American horn icon. This is one to sit back and learn from. This is a great companion to The Art of Horn Playing written by Farkas in his middle years and the biography by Nancy Jordan Fako "Philip Farkas, a happy worthwhile life"."

A Few Flaws Aside...

Evan Mino | Roland, OK United States | 02/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There were only a couple things about this CD that somewhat dissapointed me. On the tracks of Farkas speaking, I would have liked to have heard more dialogue relating to advice on how to actually play the horn. The interviews and narrations are still very insightful as to how Farkas himself got started and why he loved to play and teach, but there wasn't much advice as far as actual horn playing goes. Along with that, much of the music on the CD is quartets being performed by his students. These quartets are very nicely recorded, but I myself would have liked to hear more of Farkas playing. These minor items aside, the CD is still INCREDIBLY valuable to any horn player. Farkas performs 4 of Gallay's Unmeasured Preludes, which offer great insight as to his interpretation of some very difficult etudes. Farkas's narration tracks, while not offering much in the way of actually playing the horn, do give the listener a glimpse into his perspective on some of his experiences as a horn player. The excerpts also let anyone interested hear how a true master of orchestral horn playing performs some of the famous horn passages in the orchestral repertoire. Flaws aside, it still gets a 5. Buy this one."