Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi: Orchestral Works

Advantages: Wonderful transcriptions of JS Bach's majestic music; sensitive, tender, vivacious, effortless and fluid playing.
Disadvantages: Nil.

...Balsom has already had her US debut, performing just this January 2006 with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Milwaukee? Not New York City and Carnegie Hall? How did they get to be so lucky in Wisconsin! Methinks Ms Balsom needs a better agent/promoter, no?!). FINAL VERDICT: I give this disc an unqualified, insanely enthusiastic recommendation with all thumbs and great toes up, for all lovers of Bach and/or the trumpet. Total, absolute must-have recording. [For more complete background info on Alison Balsom, please scroll down the page to the BBC Radio 3 article.] CD DETAILS: BACH: WORKS FOR TRUMPET Alison Balsom EMI Classics 5 58047 2 (CD) / 5 58047 5 Concerto in D Major (after Vivaldi) BWV 972: 1 Allegro 2 Adagio 3 Allegro Assai 4 Sarabande (from Cello Suite No.2 BWV 1008) 5 Gigue (from Cello Suite No.2 BWV 1008) 6 Aria... Read review

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Advantages: good accoustic definition, paced, broody, relentless, emotional
Disadvantages: none

...place alongside the more serious composers such as Bach & Holst. A truly wonderful orchestral score that will stay with you for a very long time,... Read review

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Advantages: Superb strings, Vivacious virtuoso violin
Disadvantages: None

...continuo. 2. Cimento Dell'armonia E Dell'inventione, Op.8 Nos. 1-4: Le Quattro Stagioni Among his concertos, Vivaldi wrote a number of programmatic works. Concertos that tell a story.The Four Seasons is the most famous of these works. Vivaldi wrote this around 1725. Its title, Cimento Dell'armonia E Dell'inventione, translated means, The contest between harmony and invention. To achieve this, Vivali gives each movement a recurring theme and then adds contrast and decoration. Kennedy has made this concerto his own. He plays it with a passion and a brilliance. It shows Kennedy’s skills to the full with the contrasting moods and affects. i.La Primavera: Spring in E major The recurring theme in Spring is played by Kennedy’s solo violin representing a sleeping goatherd. The orchestral violins portray rustling leaves, the viola the bark of his dog... Read review

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