Santu De Silva wrote about Robert King:

>this i sthe King Consort fellow, I believe.  Wasn't he the one who did the
>epic recording (Hyperion) of the Royal Fireworks with the half a million
>oboes? I've always wanted this recording, and now that I can actually
>afford it I don't know where to look...

Look here for full details:

   http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/details/66350.html

   'This recording recreates the scale of [the] original outdoor
   performance with 24 oboes, nine each of horns and trumpets, a dozen
   bassoons, and a mighty percussion of four pairs of timpani including
   a unique pair of extra-large 'double drums' and four side-drummers.
   The effect is shattering, the clearest justification for 'authenticity'
   in performance' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide)

My assessment matches Bill Hong's:

>I'm not all that sure that King's versionof the Fireworks Music has any
>real revelations in it, but the disk has a VERY nice "filler"--all four of
>the Coronation Anthems.

The fireworks instruments en masse sound cautious and a little coarse.  I
prefer the livelier sparks of Trevor Pinnock's (DG) and Bohdan Warchal's
(Naxos) recordings.  La Rejouissance from Bohdan Warchal and the Capella
Istropolitana is a real sparkler.

James Kearney
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