Horn Concertos Fréderick Franssen & Members of Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

• Christoph Förster (1693 - 1745): Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major:
• 1 Förster: Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro / con discretione 05:34
• 2 Förster: Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Adagio 03:29
• 3 Förster: Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major: III. Allegro 05:04
• Carl Heinrich Graun (1704 - 1759): Concerto in E-Flat Major:
• 4 Graun: Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. Largo 01:10
• 5 Graun: Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Allegro 02:11
• 6 Graun: Concerto in E-Flat Major: III. Siciliano 01:25
• 7 Graun: Concerto in E-Flat Major: IV. Allegro 01:55
• Trio Sonata in E-Flat Major:
• 8 Graun: Trio Sonata in E-Flat Major: I. Allegretto 03:02
• 9 Graun: Trio Sonata in E-Flat Major: II. Andante 02:20
• 10 Graun: Trio Sonata in E-Flat Major: III. Allegro 03:49
• Trio Sonata in D Major:
• 11 Graun: Trio Sonata in D Major: I. Adagio 01:06
• 12 Graun: Trio Sonata in D Major: II. Allegro 02:08
• 13 Graun: Trio Sonata in D Major: III. Largo 01:27
• 14 Graun: Trio Sonata in D Major: IV. Menuet 02:04
• Anonymous: Concerto in E-Flat Major:
• 15 Anonymous: Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. (Allegro) 03:01
• 16 Anonymous: Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Largo 02:42
• 17 Anonymous: Concerto in E-Flat Major: III. Allegro 02:49
• Johann Joachim Quantz (1697 - 1773): Concerto in E-Flat Major:
• 18 Quantz: Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro 04:07
• 19 Quantz: Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Siciliano, Larghetto 03:00
• 20 Quantz: Concerto in E-Flat Major: III. Allegro II 02:43
• Total Runtime 55:06

Info for Horn Concertos

Eine seltene und wertvolle Aufnahme von barocken Hornkonzerten: Fréderick Franssen: Aus der enormen Auswahl an Hornrepertoire, die mir in der Anfangsphase meines Studiums zur Verfügung stand, wurde mein Interesse durch die sehr frühe Hornmusik geweckt. Die Musik dieser Epoche übte und übt immer noch eine magische Anziehungskraft auf mich aus, dank der reinen Schönheit ihrer klaren und transparenten Klangwelt. Einer meiner ersten Funde auf dieser Entdeckungsreise durch die Barockzeit war ein Konzert von unbekannter Hand, das auf diesem Album zu hören ist und aus einer ganz besonderen Sammlung stammt – dem »Wenster«.

Die Bibliothek der Universität Lund in Schweden enthält unter dem Namen »Wenster« eine der größten Sammlungen von Hornmusik aus der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Das Manuskript enthält 18 Werke, wobei fast alle Komponisten in irgendeiner Weise mit der Stadt Dresden in Verbindung stehen, und es könnte von einem reisenden Hornisten während eines Besuchs in dieser Stadt abgeschrieben worden sein. Die sechs Werke auf dieser Aufnahme stammen alle aus dieser Sammlung.

Fréderick Franssen (1977) spielt Waldhorn im Philharmonischen Orchester des Niederländischen Rundfunks. Neben dem Orchester tritt er auch als Solist auf.

Frederick Franssen, French Horn
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

Fréderick Franssen
is horn player in the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied horn with the well-known horn pedagogue Erich Penzel at Maastricht Academy of Music, where he graduated in 2002 with honors.

Fréderick has previously played with the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, among others. He was also a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, where he played with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Seiji Osawa and Pierre Boulez. He has also played as a guest player in almost all Dutch symphony orchestras. Since 2000 he has played with the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation, first with the then Radio Symphony Orchestra and since 2005 with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Besides his work for the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Fréderick performs as a soloist and plays chamber music.

For Challenge Classics Records, Fréderick recorded a solo album with his colleagues from the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the horn concertos of Christoph Förster, Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Joachim Quantz.

Since 2017, he has also been professor French Horn at the Tilburg Conservatoire (Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts, Tilburg, The Netherlands).

Fréderick plays on horns by Klaus Fehr. He himself contributed to the development of these instruments, which are also more and more in use among his colleagues.

The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
performs with leading conductors, regularly plays premieres and can frequently be heard as a broadcast orchestra in the concert series on NPO Radio 4. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been a unique orchestra in The Netherlands since 1945.

The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (RFO) is in the service of Dutch Public Broadcasting and features prominently in the broadcasting series AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert, NTR ZaterdagMatinee and Het Zondagochtend Concert. The orchestra distinguishes itself by special programmed symphonic concerts, often characterised by first performances in the Netherlands and world premieres. For this indispensable role in Dutch musical life, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra was rewarded with the Edison Oeuvre Award in 2014. In September 2017, the orchestra, together with the Groot Omroepkoor, received the Concertgebouw Prize for the important contribution they have made to the artistic profile of the Amsterdam concert hall over an extended period.

History: After the Second World War, the broadcasting associations were given the task of putting together an orchestral apparatus for the radio. So it was that in 1945 the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (from 1956 Radio Philharmonic) was founded by Albert van Raalte. He also became the first chief conductor of the orchestra. In the early years, the RFO played almost exclusively in the studio, but gradually more and more live performances in concert halls were added. Most of these take place in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. The orchestra can also regularly be heard together with the Groot Omroepkoor. An extensive historiography can be found here.

Conductors: The list of chief conductors of the RFO is impressive. After Van Raalte, the orchestra was conducted successively by Paul van Kempen, Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Willem van Otterloo, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona, Edo de Waart (honorary conductor), Jaap van Zweden (honorary chief conductor) and Markus Stenz. Some famous guest conductors of the past and present are Antal Doráti, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev and James Gaffigan, who is a permanent guest conductor.

Since the start of the 2019-2020 season, Karina Canellakis has been chief conductor of the RFO. Her exceptional debut with the orchestra in March 2018 left no doubt about asking her to be chief conductor. Canellakis is known for the spontaneity and depth she brings to music and the orchestral beauty and perfection of her concerts.

She speaks highly of the orchestra, as during an interview in October 2019 for the NOS Radio 1 news: "What is really special about them is their versatility, because they can play literally anything, from Bach to contemporary composers. Moreover, they treat everything with the same seriousness, combined with a completely open mind, so that you can shape each piece exactly as you, the conductor, would like. That is very rare."

Bernard Haitink was appointed patron of the RFO in 2012. After the announcement of the budget cuts by cabinet Rutte I, Haitink strongly pleaded for the preservation of the broadcasting ensembles.

Booklet for Horn Concertos