Alison Balsom - The Sound of Alison Balsom (2013)

Among the most exciting classical musicians of our time, Alison Balsom was first inspired by Dizzy Gillespie to become a virtuosic trumpet soloist. 'I've spent my whole life trying to show how versatile the trumpet can be,' she says. 'It's only limited by your imagination.' In this selection from her award-winning albums, she plays gems from the Baroque repertoire on both natural and valved instruments.
The Sound of Alison Balsom contains repertoire drawn from the trumpeter s critically acclaimed discography and reflects her passion for Baroque music. Alison performs works by Purcell, J.S. Bach, Torelli, Handel, Albinoni and Marcello on both the Baroque and modern trumpet with colleagues including The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock and the Scottish Ensemble. In addition, she plays her own transcriptions on the piccolo trumpet of the aria Al lampo dell armi from Handel s Giulio Cesare and the Sinfonia from Act 3 of his opera Amadigi di Gaula, both of which appear here for the first time on CD. The music on this album was composed at a time when trumpets provided the soundscape for state occasions, sacred services and public entertainments in the form of anthems, odes, sinfonias and operas. ";I ve loved early music for as long as I can remember"; Alison says. There s such an emotional depth and so much to explore in compositions from the late 1500s to Bach s death in 1750. In addition to works written for her instrument, Alison has continued the tradition of transcribing and arranging Baroque concertos for oboe, flute and violin for the piccolo trumpet. I don t see myself as a historian limited to original instruments or copies of them';, she says. 'I see myself as a performer who is trying to play music of all periods in the most stylish way possible. We must respect how composers from the past intended their music to sound while re-creating it for listeners today.