Quiet City

by Alison Balsom, Scott Stroman, Britten Sinfonia

Overview

Trumpeter Alison Balsom neatly weaves together several objectives on this program of mostly American music. One is to introduce jazz influences at several levels without turning this into a jazz album. Here, Balsom succeeds, including not only an ambitious arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue but also Leonard Bernstein and a trumpet version of a Kurt Weill song in a Gil Evans arrangement. The Gershwin, arranged by Simon Wright, reassigns much of the melodic material (including the famous glissando) to the trumpet while not disregarding the piano part; it is an intricate balance with sensitive work on the piano from Tom Poster. Another idea of Balsom's here is to broaden perhaps British conceptions of American classical music, which is more than an offshoot of jazz. The showcase is the title work, Aaron Copland's underplayed Quiet City, and Balsom offers a tour de force of quiet playing, not overwhelming the English horn. The Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez has connections to both these tendencies through its association with Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain LP. Balsom fans will be perfectly satisfied by the fact that the star sounds as creamy as ever, but others will be pleased to hear that her ideas about programming have taken a new and adventurous turn. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	09/29/2023
Label:	Warner Classics
UPC:	5054197150593
Rank:	43732

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alison Balsom   Primary Artist,Trumpet
Scott Stroman   Primary Artist,Conductor
Britten Sinfonia   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Nicholas Daniel   Cor Anglais
Tom Poster   Piano

Technical Credits

Charles Ives   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Leonard Bernstein   Composer
Joaquin Rodrigo   Composer
Gil Evans   Arranger
Simon Wright   Arranger
Kurt Weill   Composer
Aaron Copland   Composer
John Fordham   Liner Notes
Arne Akselberg   Mixing,Engineer
Eric Richmond   Photography
Simon Kiln   Mixing,Editing,Mastering,Recording Producer
Alison Balsom   Arranger,Liner Notes
Benjamin Ealovega   Photography
Daniel Fesquet   Liner Note Translation
Alain Lanceron   Executive Producer
Jason Joyce   Photography
Simon Fowler   Cover Photo,Photography
Hugh Carswell   Photography
Stefanie Schlatt   Liner Note Translation