More than three decades after his first recording of the great Classical trumpet concertos, Reinhold Friedrich returns to the works that have accompanied him since the beginning of his artistic life. Yet this recording is far more than a repetition: 36 years of intensive engagement, new insights gained from original sources and urtext editions, and a fresh perspective on historical instruments lead to a fascinating and deeply personal reassessment of this repertoire. At it's heart are the five great Classical trumpet concertos by Johann Michael Haydn, Leopold Mozart, Joseph Haydn and Johann Nepomuk Hummel - works composed within a period of only four decades, yet documenting a fundamental transformation in the art of trumpet playing. In Salzburg, we encounter the breathtaking virtuosity of the natural trumpet and a style of performance still rooted in the traditions of the Rococo, with it's distinctive approach to articulation, ornamentation and musical expression. Michael Haydn and Leopold Mozart wrote for exceptional virtuosi whose astonishing abilities still command admiration today. With Anton Weidinger's invention of the keyed trumpet, a new chapter begins in Vienna. Joseph Haydn's celebrated concerto of 1796 and Johann Nepomuk Hummel's E major concerto of 1803 explore the instrument's newly acquired chromatic possibilities - while demanding an entirely different understanding of sound, articulation, dynamics and musical character. Drawing on original sources and the distinctive sound world of historical instruments, Reinhold Friedrich challenges interpretative traditions that have shaped these works for decades. Haydn's concerto emerges not merely as a virtuoso audition piece, but as a profoundly lyrical and cantabile work of remarkable expressive refinement. Hummel's extrovert concerto, meanwhile, reveals a wealth of surprising musical connections, with references and quotations reaching towards Mozart, Haydn, Cherubini and - most strikingly - Beethoven and his Fidelio. As a natural consequence, the programme concludes with Beethoven's great Leonore aria, 'Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin?', in a historical arrangement for trumpet and piano. The result is a compelling journey through four decades of musical history - and Reinhold Friedrich's very personal confession of a repeat offender: a return to familiar masterpieces which, after 36 years, suddenly appear in an entirely new light.

The programme Schonheit und Staatsversagen (Beauty & State Failure) brings together music and text to explore the contrasts of life in Bavaria around 1800 - between city and countryside, wealth and poverty, education and illiteracy. The vivid reports of civil servant Joseph von Hazzi reveal a little-known, often harsh rural reality, full of struggle but also raw, sometimes comical pleasures. In contrast, songs by Munich composers like Josephine Lang, Franz Lachner and Lindpaintner - alongside Schumann, Leopold Mozart and Haydn - paint an idealised, emotional image of alpine life. Though shaped by different worlds, both perspectives reflect timeless human experience. This album opens up new perspectives on the past - touching, surprising, and full of musical individuality. And always, of course, with Alma!

These exuberant and technically demanding 18th-century concertos for two horns are performed by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic with soloists Jacek Muzyk and Daniel Kerdelewicz, the orchestra's Principal and Associate Principal Horns respectively. The Hoffmeister concerto is a world premiere recording.