John Holt is principal trumpet with the Dallas Opera
Orchestra, and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout
the U.S. and Europe. This recording makes it immediately apparent why:
he has a nicely rounded but colourful tone, capable of chiming over
an entire orchestra, but with a wide range both dynamically and expressively.
I had a listen to Hĺkan Hardenberger’s flamboyant new DG concerto disc ‘Jet
Stream’ recently, and while the repertoire is of course an entirely
different kettle of fish, I sense a kinship in both players’ approach
to music-making, with technique at the service of the composer, and
personal choices being central to creating a satisfying experience
for player and audience alike.
The music on this CD is entirely approachable and highly entertaining – none
of this squeaky-gate avant-garde nonsense which will make the Major’s moustache
twitch or the vicar’s wife splutter into her tea. As a composer and musician
I am undaunted either by work which seeks to push the boundaries, with all of
the risks this can involve, or by conventional composition which can be both
stimulating and recognisable as the individual voice of a sensitive artist. The
Russian composer Alexandra Pakhmutova’s Concerto for Trumpet in B-flat is,
even for a work from 1955, fairly unusual in announcing a key signature. The
music wears its heart on its sleeve from the outset, but has an underlying strength
which neatly and elegantly sidesteps any kind of sugary sentimentality. It has
four contrasting sections, balancing slow and fast in a continuous flow of lush,
romantic harmonies and melodic inventiveness which pay homage to both Rachmaninov
and Prokofiev.
Eric Ewazen is a recognised brass specialist and a
faculty member at Juilliard School. His Concerto for Trumpet
and Strings is an adaptation from a version with string
quintet. The string orchestra allows for the addition of
a double-bass part and some other tweaking, but more importantly
the composer mentions his family’s Eastern European origins,
and so those teasing dance rhythms and almost Bartók-like
gestures and shapes become clear. In four movements, there
is room for energetic counterpoint in the galloping Scherzo
second, and the moving third ‘Elegy’ movement is in memory
of the composer’s mother, who passed away a year before the
movement was written. The rhythmic finale begins in 7/8 and
recalls the upbeat nature of the Scherzo. Like a positivity
pill, it hits the spot and does one good.
Anthony Plog has had a distinguished career as an
all-round musician, training as a trumpet player and coming
to composition later in life. His Concerto No.2 for Trumpet
and Orchestra is the longest and most ambitious piece
on this disc by quite a margin, and receives its premiere
recording here. It is divided into four movements, which
in turn are split into two parts. Thematically distinct,
an ascending minor seventh chord defines the basic material
for the entire concerto. The second movement introduces the
Lutheran chorale ‘All Men Must Die’ which was also employed
by Hindemith in his trumpet Sonata. Here it is mixed with
a child-like original theme creating “a life and death allegory
that is at the concerto’s core.” Part II begins with a Shostakovich-like
Scherzo with the soloist using a diversity of mutes for contrast
of timbre over pizzicato strings and tuned and un-tuned percussion.
Opening with an extended cor anglais solo, the fourth movement
ultimately brings the piece full circle with an affirmative
restatement of the opening themes, but of course has its
own sparkling array of potent effects. The composer’s aim
was to “create a concerto for trumpet that has the scope
and depth of major violin and piano concertos.” I have to
conclude that he has succeeded, certainly in the impressive
scale and inventiveness of the piece.
The orchestral playing is generally good, even if the strings sometimes have
a little difficulty with some of the more, and even some of the less, virtuoso
passagework. Never mind, it is the overall impression that counts most, and I
found this to be an enjoyable disc with some surprising and high class music
and music-making. This is very much John Holt’s album, and his impressive playing
carries the listener through in as safe a pair of hands (or lips) as I can imagine.
Dominy Clements
John Holt (trumpet) 
