Andre Schoch (trumpet); Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra/Susanne von Gutzeit
Es-Dur ES 2091 49:26 mins
Berlin Philharmonic trumpeter Andre Schoch makes his solo album debut with a collection of concertos from the Baroque and Classical eras. Elegance, clarity and technical brilliance are hallmarks of all five concertos, which Schoch believes represent the ‘core’ of the 18th-century repertoire. Most are by forgotten or lesser-known composers, including Mozart’s father, Leopold and Haydn’s younger brother, Michael.
The most celebrated composer on the album is Telemann, whose D major concerto is the least interesting – a typical four-movement ‘character’ work lasting barely seven minutes. More engaging is the concerto by his younger contemporary, Johann Melchior Molter, who kept Karlsruhe’s court orchestra and trumpeter on their toes in a ‘concertante’ double act. In Schwerin, Johann Wilhelm Hertel was experimenting with the ‘sentimental’ style he had learned from his teacher, CPE Bach.
The two movements of Mozart Senior’s trumpet concerto are lifted from one of his serenades and give a foretaste of his son’s early compositions. Michael Haydn’s C major concerto is unusual for its high register, with the solo trumpet acting as a kind of soprano voice against a soft background of flutes and strings.
Somewhat inauthentically, Schoch plays a pair of piccolo trumpets (one in A; the other in C) – an instrument not developed until the late 19th century. This allows him to tackle the technical challenges (especially in the Haydn) while maintaining a historically informed interpretation. He is sympathetically accompanied by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under the sensitive direction of Susanne von Gutzeit. The recorded sound is clear and spacious.