About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger is bidding to become the successor to Maurice André, and he is similar to André in his willingness to take on repertory of almost any period and deliver a convincing performance. It apparently occurred to someone at Decca that a collection of Hardenberger performances could double as an all-purpose trumpet box, and indeed these five CDs will give most listeners all the trumpet music they'll ever need. The five discs were originally issued between 1986 and 1994, and unlike many large anthologies they each replicate one original release -- they're not cut and pasted. The sequence of the box as a whole is roughly chronological, with mostly Baroque concertos and trumpet-and-organ spectaculars on the first two discs, Classical-period concertos on disc 3, a grab bag of Romantic and modern trumpet (or cornet)-and-piano on disc 4, and a group of solo-trumpet modernist extended-technique works to close out the set. Hardenberger is remarkably consistent across this wide stylistic range, and it's hard to find a moment where he flags. It might be noted that his rather detached perfection works extremely well in ceremonial works like the famed "Trumpet Tune" of Jeremiah Clarke but not so well in something like "Hora staccato," arranged by Hardenberger from Jascha Heifetz's own arrangement -- a certain level of excitement is missing from works that have a whiff of the low about them. Nothing beyond quibbles can be raised with the set as a whole, however, and the sound of these older recordings holds up well; with each CD simply being a reissue of an older one, there is no problem with strange juxtapositions of sound quality. Any lover of the trumpet, whether classical or otherwise, can profitably load up a changer with these five discs and take an expert tour through the classical repertory for the instrument. James Manheim, All Music Guide

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