Johann Baptist Georg Neruda

First volume in a major reissue series collecting all of Maurice Andre’s Erato recordings.

‘It is no exaggeration to say that during the last half-century Maurice André (b.1933) has had no competition as a trumpet soloist. His greatest legacy lies in the Erato catalogue: a prolific series of recordings that covers the majority of established instrumental composers of the Baroque and early Classical periods, with a plethora of Continental and British orchestras and several of the world’s leading organists (most notably, Marie-Claire Alain). André also studiously assembled a collection of dazzling twentieth-century works, both extant and commissioned. The reappearance of these recordings in such comprehensive formats — several works appear in different performances, while the majority appear on CD for the first time — reminds us how this supreme instrumentalist, perhaps unwittingly, lured an unsuspecting public to admire a solo trumpet as they would any other concerto instrument. Erato billed Maurice André as “Le Grand Trompettiste de Notre Temps”, not just because he could play better than any of his contemporaries but because of his influence; he gave the public music that was largely unknown and yet sounded somehow familiar, resonating so essentially in the most fertile and recognisable traditions of the instrument, namely the opulent and lyrical world of the mature.’ (Taken from the booklet essay by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, trumpet player and Principal of the Royal Academy, London).

Where known, booklet includes original LP number, recording date and venue.

Alison Balsom’s fourth CD for EMI Classics features Franz Joseph Haydn and Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s evergreen trumpet concertos, coupled with concertos by Johann Baptist Georg Neruda and Giuseppe Torelli. Balsom also directs Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto is arguably the most popular work for the instrument as well as one of the composer’s best known compositions, a favourite of performers and audiences alike for its wonderful melodic invention and challenging virtuosity. Reviewing Alison’s performance with the Milwaukee Symphony in March of this year, the Journal Sentinel wrote, “Alison Balsom's details of attack, release, dynamics and timbre polished Haydn's … Trumpet Concerto into an exquisite little gem. …This concerto … has its moments of brilliant bugling. More often, though, it [shows the short-lived keyed trumpet] capable of a refined sort of expression …. Balsom excelled at both facets of the concerto. She snapped off staccato 16ths with ease and signal calls with clarion purity and power. And she shaped and colored Haydn's gentle, lyrical lines with the grace and warmth of a really good Mozartean mezzo.”

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood’s CD booklet note describes the notoriously-difficult-to-play ‘natural’ trumpet of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and the development of the ‘keyed’ trumpet by the Viennese court trumpeter Anton Weidinger in the 1790s, which inspired the concerto masterpieces by Haydn and Hummel performed on this disc.

The enticing melodic possibilities of Weidinger’s “keyed” trumpet, and indeed the artistry of Weidinger himself, moved Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), then at the height of his powers, to compose his concerto in E-flat for trumpet & orchestra. His last purely orchestral work, the concerto is a “gloriously ebullient and concise masterpiece in which the composer […] conceives a highly distinctive palette to thrust the trumpet into a brave new world.” Interestingly, it was not premiered until 1800, four years after its completion, possibly because Weidinger needed time to master its technical challenges.

Also composed for Weidinger was the Concerto in E Major (often performed, as here, in E-flat) by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), prodigy, student of Mozart and, later, of Haydn. Hummel composed his trumpet concerto in 1803 and Weidinger premiered it the following year for members of the Esterházy court. The composer was subsequently appointed music director there, on Haydn’s recommendation and likely helped by the success of his trumpet concerto. The concerto, “a more expansive work [than Haydn’s, takes the modified trumpet] a stage further in variety of idiomatic figuration and harmonic adventure.”

The Concerto in D by Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) was composed for the “natural” trumpet and likely performed on feast days in the San Petronio Basilica. The concerto for hunting horn and strings in E-flat by the Czech composer Johann Baptist Neruda (c1707-c1780) was probably written in the 1760s and is an example of a charming, traditional work of its era.

The period after 1750 meant a crisis for the high brass instruments, trumpet and horn. To be sure, the art of playing higher and higher on a simple or 'natural' brass instrument had reached its apogee, but the compositional style had changed. Owing to a new bourgeois idea of society, the trumpet fell out of favour, since it represented the old courtly culture. Felix Weingartner wrote of an anticipatory longing for reform which was in the air at that time. The final reform was brought about by full chromatifica-tion of trumpets and horns resulting from the invention of the valve (just before 1815). On the pathway to this final reform, however, the most intellectual brows were furrowed over the most efficient means of making brass instruments chromatic. The works on this disc represent three steps on this pathway: the explosive expansion of the frontiers of high-register playing by employing the 5th octave of the harmonic series, which had remained more or less unused, from high C upwards, around 1770 (Neruda); the Viennese court trumpeter Anton Weidinger's successful introduction of the keyed trumpet around 1800 (Haydn, Hummel); and finally the establishment of the 'Romantic' trumpet in low F or G with valves after c. 1828 (Kreutzer, Millares). On this disc, the works by Neruda, Haydn and Hummel are performed on modern instruments (although the horn employed in the Neruda concerto was built over 100 years ago). The 'Romantic' trumpet used in the works by Kreutzer and Millares is pitched in low D and E flat, respectively.

Romain Leleu is one of the most prominent proponents of the French school of trumpet. For his second release on Aparté, he has chosen to record the greatest concertos composed for trumpet and orchestra. He is accompanied by soloists from the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra working as the Baltic Chamber Orchestra.

This disc offers different cadenzas for the Haydn concerto written by Stockhausen, Penderecki (recorded for the first time) and Romain Leleu himself on CD.1.

The Stockhausen was written for the composer's son Markus and has been recorded only for Stockhausen Verlag, before. Penderecki, first wrote his cadenza for San José principal James Dooley but this was later revised to include the third movement as well as the first, in 2002, for Ole Edvard Antonen, and is delightfully wacky.

Two famous encores (one hidden) complete this programme.

The Hungarian trumpet player Gábor Tarkövi comes from a family of mainly brass playing musicians and switched from clarinet to trumpet. Since 2005, he has been the solo trumpet player in the Berlin Philharmonic; “In this orchestra I work with wonderful colleagues, who always inspire me. That is a very lovely feeling.”

The members of Parnassi musici are a period instrument ensemble renowned for their historical performance practice. For this CD of trio sonatas by Bohemian conductor Johann Georg Neruda they give their own unique interpretation and are joined by Sergio Azzolini for the Bassoon concerto playing an original baroque bassoon.

The trio sonata is made up of short motifs, transformed and repeated together with the animated theme at the beginning on each sonata, a trademark of the galant style he used throughout his compositions, a style also prevalent throughout the bassoon concerto.

“The performances by Parnassi musici are accomplished and idiomatic, and their outing is very well recorded by CPO.” Fanfare on a previous CPO release

The young trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth came to the attention of audiences and critics when she was awarded 2nd prize in the 2006 Eurovision Young Musicians finale in Vienna. With her debut CD, which includes a stunningly fresh new recording of the ever-popular Haydn concerto as well as terrific performances of works by Albinoni, Hummel and Neruda, she seems destined to take the world of classical music by storm.