Mdina / Various - Mdina [CD]

Following the release of his debut album in May 2007 the virtuoso horn player Etienne Cutajar, who took up his first orchestral seat at 18, has seen his career develop with important orchestral appointments in Scotland and elsewhere before returning to his native country to become principal horn of the Malta Philharmonic. He has also appeared as chamber soloist in many prestigious venues. This album is named for the central work, Mdina, by Maltese composer Jesmond Grixti; this is a work for horn solo and accompanied by two more contemporary pieces: Air für Horn by Jörg Widmann and Cynddaredd-Brenddyd by Heinz Holliger. These works require the highest accuracy and technical ability which Cutajar supplies with aplomb. Accompanying these new pieces are three mainstream works: Beethoven's well known Sonata receives a superb performance, as do the Andante by Richard Strauss and Brahms's Horn Trio in E flat. In these works, Cutajar is joined by esteemed pianist and Royal Academy professor John Reid, and in the Brahms Trio by Carmine Lauri, one of the UK's principal orchestral violinists, who has led the London Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Royal Opera House among others, and has been featured violinist in a host of major feature films.