Sound the Trumpet - Royal Musi

Alison Balsom (trumpet), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano) & The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock

En nu even gewoon van mens tot mens: iedereen die grijze haren en visioenen van ontsporend koper krijgt bij het woord natuurtrompet, schroom niet en koop deze cd. Alison Balsom is niet alleen een van de allermooiste trompettisten ooit, ze heeft ook enorm veel lef. Ze speelt, ondersteund door een briljant begeleidend the English Concert, natuurtrompet in werken van Handel en Purcell en elke noot is zó raak, dat er eigenlijk maar een passend en o zo Engels woord voor is: flabbergasted!

“Het was tijdens de Barok dat de trompet zich emancipeerde als solo-instrument. Wilt u daar meer op hoog niveau van horen, dan is er tegenwoordig maar een serieuze mogelijkheid: de Engelse trompettiste Alison Balsom (…) die absoluut de sterretjes van de hemel blaast.”
Sound The Trumpet

Handel - Amadigi di Gaula, HWV11
1. Sento la gioia (Act 3) - (arr. Trevor Pinnock)

Purcell - King Arthur Z628 - (arr. Alison Balsom)
2. I. Overture (Act 1)  
3. II. Come if you dare (Act 1) 
4. III. Symphony (Act 5) 
5. IV. Shepherd, leave decoying (Act 2)
6. V. Round thy shores (Act 5)
7. VI. Trumpet tune (Act 5)
8. VII. Fairest isle (Act 5)

Handel
Atalanta, HWV35
9. Overture

Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne HWV74
10. Eternal source of light divine 

Purcell 
The Fairy Queen Z629 (arr. Alison Balsom)
11. I. Symphony (Act 4) 
12. II. Rondeau (Second Musick)
13. III. Jig (Act 1)
14. IV. Prelude (Act 5)
15. V. Chaconne and chorus (Act 5)

Come, ye Sons of Art Z323 (arr. Alison Balsom)
16. Sound the trumpet

Handel 
Suite Water Music HWV 349 (arr. Trevor Pinnock)
17. I. Overture 
18. II. Gigue: Allegro

Suite in D, HWV341 (arr. Trevor Pinnock)
19. III. Minuet (Aria) 
20. IV. Bourrée

Partenope HWV 27 (arr. Trevor Pinnock)
21. V. March No.2 -

Purcell - The Fairy Queen Z629 (arr. Alison Balsom)
22. The Plaint (Act 5)
 
Handel - Oboe Concerto No.1 HWV301 (arr. Alison Balsom)
23. I. Adagio
24. II. Allegro 
25. III. Siciliana: Largo
26. IV. Vivace

"When the instrument is played as fluidly agreeably as it is here, nobody could doubt that it is the right tool for the job...And it all works. This is rattling good music, and so easily does the trumpet fit into it that often it is hard to recall what the original scorings were anyway. Balsom, too, sounds utterly at home...and [is] wonderfully backed by the English Concert and the bright natural musicianship of Trevor Pinnock."
Gramophone Magazine - December 2012

"Up at the top of her range, or down below, fast or slow, she is in superb control and form...the lightness of the string accompaniments, the calm attention to springy rhythms, the unobtrusive sensitivity of the phrasing, all done without exaggerated emphasis or anachronistic flamboyance, are a sheer delight...[Pinnock] is surely a national treasure."
International Record Review - December 2012

"This charming disc contains some of the most imaginative and polished trumpet playing you're ever likely to hear...Born-again authenticists may cavil at Balsom's vented trumpet, a modern development aiding intonation. But her flexible tuning, scrupulously focused to blend with the harmony, is a relief from the compromised tuning needed to play certain notes on true 18th-century instruments."
BBC Music Magazine - January 2013 *****