Alison Balsom (trumpet), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano)The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Warner Classics · 4403292 · 66 minutes
Purcell and Handel wrote for the trumpet like they were daring it to be more than just fanfare — all that interplay between brass and voice, those long-breathed melodic lines that feel almost impossible. Balsom meets that dare head-on, her tone warm and flexible in a way that blurs the line between her instrument and the voices of Iestyn Davies and Lucy Crowe beside her. Pinnock and The English Concert keep everything buoyant and alive, so the whole disc feels less like a recital and more like a conversation among friends who happen to be extraordinary musicians.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 8th October 2012
- Gramophone Magazine — December 2012 — Editor’s Choice
“This charming disc contains some of the most imaginative and polished trumpet playing you’re ever likely to hear…Born-again authenticists may cavil at Balsom’s vented trumpet, a modern development…”
— BBC Music Magazine, January 2013,5 out of 5 stars
Alison Balsom (trumpet)Scottish Ensemble
Warner Classics · 4560942 · 65 minutes
Vivaldi wrote for virtuosos who could make an audience lean forward in their seats, and Balsom absolutely honors that spirit — her trumpet cuts through these concerto allegros with a fluency that feels almost impossibly light for a brass instrument. The Scottish Ensemble keeps things lean and propulsive beneath her, so the whole thing has this wonderful sense of forward momentum that never lets up.
“Her playing is breathtaking, first in the bubbling fluency of Vivaldi violin concerto allegros…while her fluent technique elicits some exhilarating tempos. No less arresting is her creamy…”
— BBC Music Magazine, December 2010,5 out of 5 stars
Alison Balsom (trumpet), with Miloš Karadaglić (guitar)The Guy Barker Orchestra, Guy Barker
Warner Classics · 2564632789 · 51 minutes
Alison Balsom has always had a knack for making the trumpet feel like the most natural voice in the room, and on Paris she leans into that charm with real wit — weaving through Piazzolla, Gainsbourg, and Nino Rota like someone who genuinely lives in all those musical worlds at once. The pairing with guitarist Miloš Karadaglić is one of those combinations that just makes sense, two players whose tones share a kind of silvery intimacy that suits this repertoire perfectly. Guy Barker’s orchestrations keep everything feeling lush without ever getting heavy, so the whole album floats by in the best possible way.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 8th September 2014
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2014
“This potpourri of a recital is…very much of its own time, eclectically flavoured in its collaborative elements and juxtaposition of music languages [sic], and deftly underpinned by Balsom’s…”
— Gramophone Magazine, November 2014
Alison Balsom (trumpet)Scottish Ensemble, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Lawrence Renes
Warner Classics · 6785902 · 55 minutes
James MacMillan wrote Seraph as a concerto that genuinely stretches what a trumpet can mean emotionally — there’s a mysterious, almost otherworldly quality to the slow movement that Balsom navigates with real sensitivity, never letting the instrument’s natural brightness overwhelm the music’s more searching moments. The Haydn concerto alongside it gives you a lovely contrast, all wit and elegance, and she handles that stylistic gear-change completely naturally. Between MacMillan’s spiritual intensity and Haydn’s sunlit charm, this is a programme that earns its 55 minutes several times over.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 6th February 2012
- Gramophone Magazine — February 2012 — Editor’s Choice
“Seraph may not quite be another Veni, Veni Emmanuel…But it’s still very enjoyable, from the Haydn-tinged jollity of the first movement, through a mysterious and lyrical slow movement to the…”
— BBC Music Magazine, March 2012,5 out of 5 stars
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Pinnock’s Players, Trevor Pinnock
Warner Classics · 2173227329 · 63 minutes
Baroque trumpet writing loves to show off — it lives in the stratosphere, all fanfares and brilliant runs — but what makes this collection genuinely interesting is that Balsom and Pinnock have gone raiding the violin and oboe repertoire for material, which gives the whole programme a singing, lyrical quality you don’t always expect from the instrument. There’s a warmth and flexibility to Balsom’s playing here that suits those borrowed lines beautifully, and Pinnock’s players keep everything buoyant without ever feeling rushed. Sixty-three minutes of this just flies by.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 18th October 2024
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalists 2024
“Purists may of course object, but I think the decision to go hunting for concertos from the violin and oboe repertoire is amply justified. Baroque Concertos is a wide-ranging collection that…”
— David Smith, Presto Music, 18th October 2024
Alison Balsom (trumpet)Göteborgs Symfoniker, Edward Gardner
Warner Classics · 3532552 · 59 minutes
Alison Balsom brings a kind of fearless elegance to the trumpet that makes you forget the instrument’s reputation for brashness — her tone on Caprice is luminous and shapely, never forced. Edward Gardner and the Göteborgs Symfoniker wrap around her playing with real sensitivity, giving the whole album a chamber-music intimacy despite its orchestral scale.
“The young British trumpeter Alison Balsom is a real star: resplendent and well-varied tone, crisp attack, absolute ease of production throughout the range.”
— BBC Music Magazine, November 2006,5 out of 5 stars
Alison Balsom (trumpet)Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Warner Classics · 2162130 · 52 minutes
Haydn wrote his Trumpet Concerto right at the moment the keyed trumpet made new melodic freedom possible, and you can hear that sense of discovery baked into every phrase — it’s music that still sounds genuinely excited about what the instrument can do. Balsom leans into that energy with a tone that shifts from bright and assertive to almost vocal in the slow movement, and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen matches her with playing that feels alive rather than merely correct. Hummel’s concerto gets the same treatment, all elegant filigree and charm, and the two works together make 52 minutes fly by.
“Balsom plays them all with great virtuosity, varied toned and good style. The German Chamber Philharmonic provides spirited, carefully detailed support.”
— BBC Music Magazine, October 2008,5 out of 5 stars
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Tom Poster (piano), Nicholas Daniel (cor anglais), Britten Sinfonia, Scott Stroman
Warner Classics · 9029622991 · 54 minutes
Copland wrote Quiet City for a play that flopped, but the music survived because it captures something genuinely ineffable — a lone trumpet calling out across a sleeping urban landscape, answered by the mournful sigh of cor anglais. Balsom and Nicholas Daniel bring exactly the right mix of jazz-inflected ease and classical poise to those conversations, never forcing the idiom but letting it breathe on its own terms. The Britten Sinfonia keep everything luminous underneath, and the whole thing feels less like a performance than a late-night reverie you stumble into.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 26th August 2022
“Revisiting the improvisatory practice of jazz icons with highly idiosyncratic techniques can fall flat, but Balsom and the Britten Sinfonia make it work. They are entirely idiomatic and wonderfully…”
— BBC Music Magazine, October 2022,4 out of 5 stars
