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
