RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Sound The Trumpet
Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Amadigi di Gaula - Sento la gioia [4:36]
Atalanta
- overture [3:52]
Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne - Eternal Source of Light
Divine*
[3:26]
Suite in D HWV341 Water Piece [7:18]
Oboe Concerto No.1 in B flat [7:28]
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
King Arthur - Suite [14:11]
The Fairy Queen - Suite [14:07]
and The
Plaint (Act V)** [7:37]
Come, ye Sons of Art - Sound the Trumpet* [2:28]
Alison Balsom (trumpet); *Iestyn Davies (counter-tenor); **Lucy Crowe
(soprano);
The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock
rec. St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb and Henry Wood
Hall, London, October 2012
EMI CLASSICS 4403292 [66:17]
I was almost put off this dazzlingly brilliant CD when I read on the tray
artwork “Alison Balsom - natural trumpets”. Personally I have
something of an aversion to natural trumpets - and horns - due to the fact
that their harmonics just sound horribly out of tune to the modern ear so
used to the world of equal temperament tuning. The skill and musicianship
required to master such instruments is, however, without question. On
playing the CD I soon became suspicious because there are no tuning issues
whatsoever. Everything is immaculate so what’s actually going on here?
I think the clue is to be found on the cover photograph. The instrument is
not a natural trumpet as such but one that should really be described as a
baroque trumpet - one without valves but with modifications such as vent
holes in the tubing to assist tuning. I’m pretty sure I am right here
but stand to be corrected. The second caveat is that most of the music
presented here is arranged or edited by Trevor Pinnock and Alison Balsom so
the purist brigade may well be hesitant from the outset. I have no such
issues - the music-making is a joy from beginning to end.
Alison Balsom’s playing is stunning. The tone and intonation are
fabulous;
the lip trills, ornaments and runs simply staggering. How she achieves this
level
of technical assurance on an instrument without valves is remarkable and she
makes
it all sound like a piece of cake. Throughout the collection she is expertly
accompanied
by Trevor Pinnock, a real baroque expert if ever there was one, and his
excellent
orchestra is the perfect choice for a programme of music such as this.
Turning to the music, the CD opens in lively fashion with Sento la
gioia,
an arrangement of a coloratura aria with the solo trumpet replacing the
vocal
line. OK, it’s not what Handel originally intended but it works really
well
and puts down a benchmark for the stellar standards achieved by the rest of
the
disc. Handel’s Birthday Ode and Purcell’s Sound the
Trumpet
are especially moving and the counter-tenor, Iestyn Davies, is a formidable
partner
for Ms Balsom, offering as he does a purity of intonation and clear diction.
Lucy
Crowe’s rendition of The Plaint from Purcell’s The
Fairy
Queen is sensitively and beautifully sung and it’s obvious that
there’s
an equal musical partnership captured here with the trumpet replacing the
original
oboe line with no detriment to the music whatsoever. Indeed, Ms.
Balsom’s
legato playing isn’t that far removed from the sound world of the
oboe.
The arrangements of the suites from Purcell’s King Arthur and
The Fairy Queen by Alison Balsom both work very well as does Trevor
Pinnock’s arrangement of Water Piece based on Handel’s
Water Music (in the first movement) and other Handelian sources. The
disc concludes with an arrangement of Handel’s Oboe Concerto in B
flat, arranged and transposed into C major. Like the rest of the programme
it is played with assured virtuosity and ravishing tone. The recording throughout
is sparkling, warm and realistically balanced. Only the most unbending of
purist zealots would fail to love this record.
John Whitmore
Only the most unbending of purist zealots would fail to love this record.
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