Interview, Alison Balsom talks about Baroque Concertos

We couldn't resist catching up with the inimitable Alison Balsom to find out more about her newly-released Baroque Concertos - where the germ of the album came from, how the transcriptions work, and the role played by the four-valve rotary piccolo trumpet she uses, an idea adapted from the popular recordings of Maurice André in the twentieth century.

She found time amid a packed schedule of travels to share some of her thoughts...!

Where did the idea for this album come from - coming as it does after the much more twentieth-century-focused Quiet City?

This is the culmination of something that has been a passion project for many years - and I love to discover new ways to mine the huge variety of great Baroque concerti. I'll always end up back there no matter how far I stray - it's practically running through my veins.

You mention Maurice André as something of an inspiration for this album - can you tell us a bit more about the influence his recordings had on you?

It was the quality of his tone, his natural instinct for the shape of a phrase, his commitment to every musical decision he made. And frankly he also had an outstanding sound engineer who knew exactly how to engage the listener with his piccolo trumpet being almost pop-music style up and close on the microphone way ahead of his time. 

What’s so unique about the piccolo trumpet you’re playing here?

It's not especially unique - other people own this type of piccolo too! But I think unusually  it has a 4th rotary valve for the left hand (which is great for me as I am left handed!) and helps with various intonation challenges as you have more alternative combinations of valves you can use depending on the key you are playing in. In a couple of the pieces I actually switch between keys/ trumpet pipes by a semi-tone between takes to capture various notes that sit slightly higher or lower in the harmonic series in those different keys... it was a mental puzzle too!

How did you come into contact with Simon Wright, whose arrangements you’re playing here? Were they specially commissioned or pre-existing adaptations?

These are actually more transcriptions than arrangements - the solo parts mostly being identical to the original. The exception being the last movement of the Vivaldi G minor Concerto, which we made into a kind of violin and trumpet duet, since there are so many techniques that are completely impossible on the trumpet, such as three pages of non-stop 3 octave arpeggios. I have known Simon since I was 13 and did work experience with the Wallace Collection, of which Simon was the conductor, and long time organist and duo partner for the famous trumpeter John Wallace. He is also the Dad of one of my best friends! We've worked together successfully on and off for many years, including me asking Simon to do some of the more complicated arrangements on my Royal Fireworks album, so knows well the idiosyncrasies of the trumpet.

What sort of technical challenges did you encounter in performing works originally for the oboe and violin?

Very difficult! Non stop! No breathing space! Intonation issues with an imperfectly designed short set of pipes! Too hard for the trumpet - a crazy idea! Too many notes.... etc. 

How much has your approach to Baroque music changed since those two solo albums in the 2010s, Sound the Trumpet and Italian Concertos?

Italian Concertos was just fresh naivety, and 'play the notes' fun. Sound the Trumpet was much more premeditated, and intellectually challenging to put together, pushing the envelope of what was possible with the natural trumpet, but culminating in a very musically satisfying project nonetheless - perhaps a bit more 'niche' than this one. This album is a combination of another couple of decades of playing experience, and devil-may-care joy in immersing myself in this repertoire.

You describe having fallen in love with Baroque music as a child on hearing a recording of Trevor Pinnock, with whom you’re performing here - how easy was it to keep that flame alive over the years, given the relatively limited repertoire?

Completely effortless - in fact I feel so sorry for the millions of people in the world that don't have great performances and recordings of the Baroque canon at their emotional disposal, and feel that their lives must be much poorer for that. Let's try to help them out!