The title
Baroque Concertos
doesn't suggest much that is new for star trumpeter
Alison Balsom
; after all, Baroque music makes up a majority of her recorded output, or close to it. She has also accumulated a stable of fans who will buy anything she issues. Indeed, this release made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2024, but in fact, this is quite a fresh release from
Balsom
. The concertos here don't include a single one that is native to the trumpet; instead, all the pieces, including a heavily reworked
Handel
concerto grosso, are arranged for trumpet and orchestra by
Simon Wright
. Most of the concertos were originally for violin or oboe. Of course, transcription was a major part of the Baroque performer's world, but even given this, the move is a bold one for
. The notes of an oboe, and especially those of a violin, don't sit easily under a trumpeter's fingers, and one of the major attractions here is that
pulls off some ornaments that would seem difficult indeed for a trumpeter. Sample the finale of the
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 3, No. 9
, from
Vivaldi
's
L'estro armonico
collection.
is aided by her use of the small, brilliant, and comparatively agile piccolo trumpet with which she is pictured in the graphics. The second point of appeal here is that
is accompanied by veteran early music conductor
Trevor Pinnock
, almost an octogenarian by now, and a new handpicked group of musicians he calls
Pinnock's Players
. These manage a reasonable facsimile of
Pinnock
's classic sound with
The English Concert
.
's commentary discusses the contrast between her modern trumpet and the historical instruments of
's group, but the glassy 1980s sound of the orchestra complements the brightness of
's trumpet beautifully. It all adds up to an album that evokes memories of
Maurice André
, one of
's major influences, and that will appeal not only to
fans but to anyone who likes the trumpet. ~ James Manheim