"Having worked extensively with period instrument ensembles throughout my career, I was intrigued and fascinated about the possibility on this album of a delicious colliding of the two worlds." Alison Balsom. On this new recording Alison Balsom and her long term friend and conductor Trevor Pinnock bring alive works from Telemann, Händel, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Marcello. A baroque album, confronting the period instruments of the Pinnock Players and Alison's use of a modern instrument: a rotary valve piccolo trumpet. Alison comments: "The piccolo trumpet is a modern invention - something that Bach and his contemporaries could not have known was to come - it's power, it's gleaming bright tone and it's 20th century engineering technology. And this instrument is a world away from the subtle multifaceted sounds of the natural trumpet of the Baroque era. That said, the opportunity to perform much more chromatic and virtuosic music such as that originally written for solo violin or oboe, has seduced me and my trumpet colleagues since the days of the great Maurice André. He showed the world how intensely sweet the piccolo trumpet could be in it's upper register".

Track List

1. La Stravaganza Op. 4: Violin Concerto No. 6 in G minor RV 316A: I. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
2. La Stravaganza Op. 4: Violin Concerto No. 6 in G minor RV 316A: II. Largo (Simon Wright Transcription)
3. La Stravaganza Op. 4: Violin Concerto No. 6 in G minor RV 316A: III. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
4. Oboe Concerto in D minor Op. 9 No. 2: I. Allegro E Non Presto (Simon Wright Transcription)
5. Oboe Concerto in D minor Op. 9 No. 2: II. Adagio (Simon Wright Transcription)
6. Oboe Concerto in D minor Op. 9 No. 2: III. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
7. L'estro Armonico Op. 3: Violin Concerto No. 9 in D Major RV 230: I. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
8. L'estro Armonico Op. 3: Violin Concerto No. 9 in D Major RV 230: II. Larghetto (Simon Wright Transcription)
9. L'estro Armonico Op. 3: Violin Concerto No. 9 in D Major RV 230: III. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
10. Oboe Concerto in D minor S. Z799: I. Andante (Simon Wright Transcription)
11. Oboe Concerto in D minor S. Z799: II. Adagio (Simon Wright Transcription)
12. Oboe Concerto in D minor S. Z799: III. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
13. Oboe Concerto in F minor TWV 51:F1: I. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
14. Oboe Concerto in F minor TWV 51:F1: II. Largo E Piano (Simon Wright Transcription)
15. Oboe Concerto in F minor TWV 51:F1: III. Vivace (Simon Wright Transcription)
16. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: I. Overture. Larghetto (Simon Wright Transcription)
17. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: II. Overture. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
18. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: III. Presto (Simon Wright Transcription)
19. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: IV. Largo (Simon Wright Transcription)
20. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: V. Allegro (Simon Wright Transcription)
21. Concerto Grosso in D Major HWV 323: VI. Menuet. Un Poco Larghetto (Simon Wright Transcription)