Beacon, Bristol
Soloist Alison Balsom delivered Marsalis’s playful new trumpet concerto with poise, expertise and wit – right down to the animal calls
Rather like the American quilts whose fabric embeds a story, Wynton Marsalis’s new Trumpet Concerto is a patchwork of the history of the instrument and some of its most celebrated exponents, from Louis Armstrong to Frenchman Maurice André. Over six movements, spanning 35 minutes, Marsalis has stitched together myriad styles and characteristics, jumping continents and name-checking composers and players en passant, with a metaphorical doffing of the “Derby hat” mute in tribute.
Conceived for Michael Sachs, principal trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra, and premiered last year by him, the multifaceted piece has been picked up by English trumpet soloist Alison Balsom. Her performance of it – first with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and now with the London Symphony Orchestra under Antonio Pappano – is testimony to her own virtuoso technique. In the Beacon Hall, Balsom delivered it with cool poise.
