A CD of music for valve horn and piano may be regarded as a specialty item, of primary interest to teachers and students of the instrument and perhaps a few others. Because the horn literature tends to be conservative and pedagogical, it might come as no surprise that Calls,
Kjell-Erik Arnesen's 2004 album, resembles a faculty recital in its uncontroversial selections and academic atmosphere. His program of pieces by Schumann,
Strauss,
Hindemith, Nielsen, and
Berge is fairly routine, for most of these works are regularly encountered at the college level.
Arnesen and pianist
Jørgen Larsen have the technique to play them efficiently and cleanly, and in most cases they are as expressive as the music allows. Yet there are no surprises and no risks taken, and the bland tone of this program may induce boredom. Fortunately, most of the pieces are short and sweet, and Schumann's Adagio and Allegro,
Strauss' Andante and Nielsen's Canto serioso are not demanding.
Hindemith's pedantic Sonata, however, comes off less successfully, for its dryness constrains
Arnesen and
Larsen, who plainly prefer more openhearted, Romantic fare. Ending the disc with
Berge's Horn-lokk is a serious miscalculation, though, for this meandering solo is a tedious audition piece best kept in the practice room.