La Trompette Retrouvee [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (Artist, Performer), Jean-Philippe Rameau (Composer), Reynaldo Hahn (Composer), others (Composer), Not Applicable (Conductor, Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
• Orchestra: Not Applicable
• Conductor: Not Applicable
• Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau, Reynaldo Hahn, others
• Audio CD (February 1, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Linn Records
• ASIN: B000MGB1U0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,092 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I gave Jonathan Freeman-Attwood's last act of piracy­ - adaptations of Elgar, Strauss and Rheinberger for two trumpets and organ on Linn (reviewed in September 2004) - an enthusiastic welcome. This one's a little more problematic, the trouble lying in the nature of the instruments themselves. The trumpet needs a spacious acoustic where you can hear the sound carry (as with the organ on that earlier CD), but put a piano in a similar aural framework and it will sound too distant from the microphones. That's what happens here, the divergence emphasised by the vaulted interior of St George's, Brandon Hill, Bristol: the varying colours and intensities of Freeman-Attwood's trumpet-playing leap readily to the ear, while Daniel-Ben Pienaar's vigorous pianism has to make do with second-cousin status. By the same token, the advantage with a programme constructed along these lines is that the new cladding offers not so much a different take on familiar music as a completely new set of pieces. On modern trumpet and piano the eight-movement suite Pienaar has fashioned from Rameau's Naïs is brittle and bold, the segue into Hahn's À Chloris helped by the quotation of Bach's G string' melody in the opening bars of the song (a clever bit of programming, that). Chabrier's piano output provided Pienaar with the makings of a four-movement suite which contains two of the most buoyantly happy items in all French music ­ the Danse villageoise' and Scherzo-valse from the Dix Pièces pittoresques, perfectly suited to the trumpet - which contrast effectively with the two slower pieces which precede them. The third movement of Saint-Saëns's Second Cello Sonata, a long-melodied Romanza, hesitant, intimate and confessional in the original, becomes far more of a public statement here, its climaxes brasher on the trumpet than with the cello, where you sense it has truths that must be told. I have played this track and the closing account of Fauré¹s Second Violin Sonata repeatedly, in the hope that familiarity would remove the strangeness of these new incarnations, with only partial success. Freeman-Attwood contributes an intriguing defence of his appropriation of the Fauré, going into some detail about what he calls the trumpet-iness' of the music - chiefly its ability to carry particular kinds of phrasing - but I am not yet reconciled to hearing the music cast in gestures far larger and grander than those of the cello or the violin. Of course, by grafting this music into the trumpet repertoire Freeman-Attwood is linking it with the French trumpet tradition itself, best known in the playing of musicians such as Maurice André and Guy Touvron, who at home enjoy the kind of popularity, unsuspected outside France, that André Previn and James Galway enjoyed here at the height of their television careers a decade or two ago. Accordingly, Freeman-Attwood adopts the cornet-like tone of that tradition­ - bright, clean, precise­ - and delivers performances of narrative elegance devoid of any in-your-face brassiness. The sheer faithfulness of the recording to the acoustic does Pienaar no favours, as I say: you can hear how alertly and responsively he plays, but he is just that bit too far away for you to be able to concentrate on the detail of what he is doing. A curate's egg of a CD, then, since the curate readily admitted it is very good in parts. I'm certainly not one of those purists who object to the very idea of transcription (on the contrary: a good transcription can reveal things about the music that had escaped you beforehand), but I do wonder whether the Saint-Saëns and the Fauré were the best places to start expanding the trumpet repertoire­ and in this acoustic a harp might have offered a more suitable accompaniment." --International Record Review

"Arthur Butterworth, composer and former principal-trumpet of Barbirolli's Hallé Orchestra, once lamented to me about the restricted use of the trumpet in the 18th-century orchestra, after the guilds of players that created the great Baroque tradition of high trumpeting had disappeared. But in the 20th century - not least with the coming of jazz - the trumpet has sustained a renaissance, and today there is almost nothing a top-class player cannot do within the instrument's range (and even above it). Never better demonstrated than in this highly stimulating recital by Gramophone's own Jonathan Freeman-Attwood with his splendidly responsive partner, Daniel-Ben Pienaar, who constantly illuminates the piano contribution. The transcription of Chabrier's Pièces pittoresques stands out, full of charm, with the spiccato trumpet in the "Danse villageoise" (a real lollipop) and the galumphing "Scherzo-Waltz" irresistible, so perfectly suited to this instrument. Rameau's Naïs Suite, which opens the programme, is remarkably successful too, stylish and characterful, with moments of real nobility. Apart from his nimble dexterity, Freeman-Attwood's playing is just as striking for the beauty of his lyrical phrasing and his richness of colour, so well demonstrated by Saint-Saëns's "Romanza", and in the wonderful freedom of his playing in the transcription of Fauré's Violin Sonata No 2, which at times (and specially in the finale) almost convinces one that it was written for the trumpet. I resisted this remarkable arrangement first time through, but on subsequent listenings put prejudice aside and revelled in the sheer musicianship of this splendidly matched duo. They are helped by absolutely natural recording in an ideal acoustic. It sounds first-class on CD equipment; but subtly bring in the back speakers and you will surely "retrieve" the image of the two players together with complete realism. And if you haven't got the equipment yet for SACD, you don't know what you are missing - a truly added dimension in music reproduction in the home!" --Gramophone

La Trompette Retrouvée' includes French chamber music recordings, from Rameau to Fauré, with trumpet. They were discovered' again with fresh arrangements as the trumpet accompanies the piano. It is the second record in a series of trumpet playing recordings presented in a novel way. The third one is planned in 2008 and it also will include music from 17th Century. It is a brilliant record. The music and the performances are excellent (however, modern technological play doesn't have to be liked by everyone). The sound quality is fantastic! I have to tell again- it is a fantastic record! There are just two instruments - trumpet and piano, but it sounds like a chamber orchestra. The trumpet plays with strong dynamic and gentle way of legato. This gives a fantastic effect in the sound. Both instruments have got a lot of air around them but they aren't blurred, which often occurs in the multi-channel recordings. Between the listener and the audience is quite a distance like in a real concert, and we are sitting near to the trumpeter. Therefore, in reality we turn down and up, because we want to find the natural level of sound. However, we are enjoying the music and we just relax, and then the strong entry of the trumpet might punch us to the wall. Piano also is recorded from the long distance. However, we might feel that the piano plays the second role, because it plays less dynamic, in the 'safe'' way. To the perfect play of the record you have to have a system with very good resolution and dynamic. Like always with LINN, HDCD is amazing. Quality of sound: 10/10 --High Fidelity

Product Description

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Sound, but dull product, October 14, 2008

By 

Ethan E. Matthes - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Trompette Retrouvee (Audio CD)

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood is sort of a trumpet activist in how he arranges music you'd never imagine on trumpet for the trumpet. As a trumpet hobbyist, I'm pleased that people like Freeman-Attwood are expanding the trumpet repertoire and challenging the trumpet stereotype of simply fanfares and marches.

The performance quality is excellent and the recorded sound (I'm reviewing the Stereo SACD layer) is wonderful. However, the arrangements aren't interesting. While I applaud this Trumpet/Pianist team's attempt to "think outside the box" with French music, I'd much rather hear their immense talents on the 20th Century French works of Bozza, Tomasi, Honneger, and Jolivet.

Again, this disc sounds great, but the content isn't very interesting. I'll definitely consider their future album releases, but I would not purchase this particular album again.