Search - Wynton Marsalis, Leppard, English Chamber Orch :: Baroque Music for Trumpets

Great musicianship and recording/performing wizardry

Dr. Louis B. Cady | Evansville, IN USA | 03/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As former performing musician (two degrees in music), and a career both as a pianist, and, in high school and college, a trumpet player, I feel I'm qualified to review this recording.The trumpet playing is clean, crisp, and MUSICAL - despite the bellyachings of other reviewers. The incredible accomplishment of having Marsalis lay down anywhere from two to EIGHT discrete trumpet tracks and have them blended in the recording process is amazing. You cannot help me impressed by reading the liner notes about exactly how this was done. For the first take, the orchestra, conductor, and Marsalis performed the ensemble playing at St. Barnabas Church in North London. Several months later, Marsalis, Raymond Leppard, the conductor, and the recording engineer and producer went back with recording gear, headphones, and a determination to lay the rest of the tracks down synchronously. In the case of the Biber concerto for eight trumpets, this involved recording seven additional different trumpet parts precisely, requiring Marsalis to actually play ahead of where he should be so the sound lag in the large church would coordinate appropriately with the recording. It should be noted that this didn't start out to be a recording "stunt" but ended up with the idea of Marsalis playing all the parts because of lack of ability to coordinate schedules with other contemplated soloists.The result is fabulous. In contrast to the other reviewers who panned this recording, I must comment that there IS shading, there ARE crescendos and decrescendos - there is even rubato.The sound is clean and crisp. All in all - a musical and recording triumph. Buy it!!!!!"

Marsalis Is a Virtuoso!

sherri j. thorne | brooklyn, new york United States | 08/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For me, there is nothing more glorious than Baroque music, and this CD is a perfect example of that! Wynton Marsalis shows off his technical expertise in playing these beautiful works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Pachelbel,Michael Haydn, and Von Biber. This recording again pairs him with conductor Raymond Leppard and the English Chamber Orchestra. It is also a technical feat, in that Marsalis plays ALL of the parts himself. The Von Biber Sonata in A Major calls for 8 trumpets alone!! I have had this recording for years, and everytime I hear it I am amazed by Marsalis' musicianship, and his ability to present the stateliness of the Baroque trumpet repertoire. It is a joy!"

Somwhere in the middle

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 02/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"All the reviews here are either love or hate. I am in the middle. I know a bit about the recordings others mention, and know a bit about Baroque ornamentation. Some of these work well, others come across as all florid fluff (which is easy to do, as the music is hardly "great" stuff).But I find the Telemann in B-flat Major a delightful performance. This was written to be played up and with, not just played, and he does a joyous job. As he does in the Biber (a composer I enjoy greatly, usually for somber string pieces--quite a change). The snap and crisp tone works well, making a charming performance of charming tunes.But his Vivaldi does not sing, Haydn is a mechanical piece boringly played, and the Pachelbel, a piece that is famously dull requiring exceptional playing to come alive, does not. Tedium.The ad hominem attacks in these reviews are irrelevant. Can he play? Yes. Does he KNOW Baroque? Well, he has one opinion, but Leppard is no slouch. His recordings of Baroque music were some of my favorite LPs. Sometimes this works, sometimes it does not, and with this CD, you get some of both. Or at least that's what I think!"