Alison Balsom (trumpet), Pinnock's Players, Trevor Pinnock

Vivaldi: La stravaganza, Op. 4
Albinoni: Concerto Op. 9 No. 2 for oboe & strings in D minor
Vivaldi: L'estro armonico, Op. 3
Marcello, A: Oboe Concerto in D Minor
Telemann: Oboe Concerto in F Minor, TWV 51
Handel: Concerto grosso in D Major, HWV 323

“Having worked extensively with period instrument ensembles throughout my career, I was intrigued and fascinated about the possibility on this album of a delicious colliding of the two worlds.” – Alison Balsom

On this new recording Alison Balsom and her long term friend and conductor Trevor Pinnock bring alive works from Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Marcello.

A baroque album, confronting the period instruments of the Pinnock Players and Alison’s use of a modern instrument: a rotary valve piccolo trumpet.

Alison Balsom comments: “The piccolo trumpet is a modern invention – something that Bach and his contemporaries could not have known was to come – its power, its gleaming bright tone and its 20th century engineering technology. And this instrument is a world away from the subtle multifaceted sounds of the natural trumpet of the Baroque era. That said, the opportunity to perform much more chromatic and virtuosic music such as that originally written for solo violin or oboe, has seduced me and my trumpet colleagues since the days of the great Maurice André. He showed the world how intensely sweet the piccolo trumpet could be in its upper register”.

"Purists may of course object, but I think the decision to go hunting for concertos from the violin and oboe repertoire is amply justified. Baroque Concertos is a wide-ranging collection that shows not only Balsom’s incredible technical command of her instrument but also her breadth of imagination. Maurice André would surely be proud of the progress that’s been made since his own trailblazing albums all those years ago." - Presto Music, 18th October 2024