Gliding like a swan over a reflective surface of water, that is the impression that Alison Balsom leaves here with her radiant instrument. To be clear: the image comes from herself. She made this comparison to a Gramophone journalist during a workshop for trumpet students. 'You have to look like you're gliding along the surface effortlessly while underneath there's all this frantic paddling going
… on. The audience don't need to know the mechanics, though ', says the trumpet player. It is only a small step from the graceful swan to the majestic angel from which the opening work of this CD takes its title: Seraph. This is a concert for Alison Balsom, in which the otherwise pathetic James MacMillan shows a strikingly classical side. Less recently, but actually more impressive is Bernd Alois Zimmermann's trumpet concerto, based on the negro spiritual Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen (1954). (HJ)more
