Page 189 - Alison Balsom Quiet City FULL BOOK

The twin centrepieces of this album are Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and the Adagio from
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez – both firmly established in the canon of classical hits, and
both ripe for revisiting and reworking. Simon Wright’s trumpet-centric arrangement of
the Rhapsody occupies something of a middle ground between the lushness of the widely-
performed orchestral version and the punch of the original for jazz band. Balsom’s delicious
rendition of the opening glissando assuages any initial doubts about the wisdom of the
arrangement; her effortless, unforced high notes soon make their presence felt, and the
sharing of the material between her and pianist Tom Poster in what has effectively become a
double concerto feels as natural as if it had always been that way.

It's not just the solo trumpet that enjoys a hugely expanded share of the limelight, though; the
whole of the Britten Sinfonia’s trumpet section are put through their paces and acquit
themselves admirably. Their powerful tuttis at the top of the instrument’s range are absolutely
fearless and committed, in both the Gershwin and the Rodrigo. The former’s yearning
romantic sections perhaps feel a little shorn of their usual sentiment; but then again, maybe
such indulgent, heart-on-sleeve emotions don’t belong in the glitzy urban brouhaha of early-
20th-century America. The latter, in its incarnation by Gil Evans for jazz legend Miles Davis,
sees the climaxes crowned by further stratospheric trumpet writing; a kind of American take
on the brass band arrangement, used to such powerful effect in the 1996 film Brassed Off.

The Rodrigo adaptation is, perhaps not surprisingly, infused throughout with the spirit of
smooth jazz – near-constant drum brushes to begin with, and a string bass underpinning the
texture – and in places diverges dramatically from the original. Despite Balsom not having
focused on jazz to any great extent in her discography to date, it’s clearly something she has a
natural affinity for, with a particularly appealing and at times breathy flugel-like tone in the
lower register.

Balsom’s agility in the Rhapsody is remarkable – not just in fast passagework but in huge
leaps across the instrument’s range. The price of adapting piano writing for the trumpet! No
less beguiling, though, is her expressive, at times weightless, tone in the opening piece –
Copland’s magical, atmospheric Quiet City. Its sheer meditative stillness perhaps makes it a
more challenging piece to communicate effectively, but between them Balsom, Stroman and
cor anglais Nicholas Daniel create something profound.