Search - Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Johann Baptist Georg Neruda, Friedrich Dionysus Weber :: Haydn, Hummel, Neruda: Trumpet Concertos

Well Played Naxos Collection

R. Rockwell | Brooklyn, NY USA | 07/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of Naxos I seek out their collections in their catalog and have rarely been disappointed. I am not a fan of trumpet , just a fan of classical music.Weber and Neruda were unknown to me and I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful variations of Weber and the earliest piece pre-clasical piece by Neruda which has one of the most beautiful slow sectiions I have ever heard,. The Hummel and Haydn which are usually considered core reperoire were enchantingly played by Eklund and the Swedish chamber orchestra.

Please buyy. Please excuse typos I have a neurologic disease."

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Querulouse | KCMO USA | 06/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of my favorite baroque recordings, if only because it was my introduction to Neruda. Eklund's performance is, as always, incredible. There many flattering adjectives that would properly describe this album, so buy it and pick your favorite."

Nobody Plays an Authentic Keyed Trumpet ...

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 09/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... not on any recording I've discovered anyway. Perhaps nobody has labored to master that instrument, which has a repertoire of two concertos and a few odd pieces. Not even the renowned Baroque trumpeter Niklas Eklund performs the Haydn and Hummel concertos on the original instrument for which they were specifically written, which was invented in the 1790s by Anton Weidinger, a member of the court orchestra in Vienna. Eklund plays a modern trumpet on all four compositions on this CD, at A440 and with a chamber orchestra of modern strings and winds. The piston-valved trumpet was of course not introduced until after Haydn's death; Dedrich Weber's "Variations in F Major", recorded here, is said to be the first composition ever written specifically for a valved trumpet. The length and bore of Haydn's keyed trumpet (the keys were merely flaps that covered holes in the bore), and the critical mouthpiece, were far closer to those of the earlier 'baroque-era' trumpet than to a modern trumpet, let along the beastly little kazoo with valves called a piccolo or bach trumpet.



Nevertheless Eklund's performance sets a standard of interpretation and virtuosity that none of the many others approach. I heard most of the extant recordings: by Alison Balsom, Wynton Marsalis, David Zinman, Hakon Hardenberger, Maurice André, and Rolf Smedvig, more or less in order of sales on amazon. Perhaps because of his profound understanding of the baroque trumpet, of its technique and timbre, he alone makes his trumpet "sound" like an authentic Haydn-era instrument, with an unstrained soaring clarino register as pure as a coloratura soprano's voice. His trills and graces DON'T sound slurpy-valvey as most others do. He leaps from lower to higher and higher to lower octaves without a 'break' in his instrumental voice. In short, he makes his modern trumpet sound almost as good as his baroque trumpet.



The Haydn Concerto in E flat major is the apex of the trumpet repertoire, the one indispensable trumpet work that every music lover should hear and have. The famous cadenza near the end of the first movement has always been the touchstone of a trumpeter's artistry. Eklund plays it without a flaw or a slack note. I'd wager my left kidney that if I played the cadenzas from the CDs of the trumpeters mentioned above in a blind test, most people would overwhelmingly prefer Eklund's to any other.



The Concerto in E major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) is a rouser and has become familiar to many listener through its use as theme music on various radio stations. The Concerto in E falt major by Jan Neruda predates the keyed trumpet and should rightly be played on a baroque instrument, but Eklund makes it sound more stylish than it usually sounds. The Weber piece is not a concerto in form but rather a suite of six brief variations; it's a minor bagatelle really, but it sets the listener up nicely for the brilliant Haydn.



And notice the price! Viva Naxos, viva!"