in Reviews

Lusty lungful

"The microphones are going to take some time to catch up with the astonishing flood of Finnish instrumental concertos since the turn of the 21st century, so it’s good to be able to welcome the first recording of Jouni Kaipainen’s Trumpet Concerto, written in 2003 to a commission from the soloist here, Pasi Pirinen, to whom it is also dedicated."

ABCD369_Pirinen_TrumpetConcertos_kansiTRUMPET CONCERTOS

Kaipainen Trumpet Concerto, Op. 86; Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, Hob. VIIe:1; Tomasi Trumpet Concerto

Pasi Pirinen (trumpet), Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Hannu Lintu

Alba ABCD 369

The microphones are going to take some time to catch up with the astonishing flood of Finnish instrumental concertos since the turn of the 21st century (I’ve not sat down to count them but there must be well over 100), so it’s good to be able to welcome the first recording of Jouni Kaipainen’s Trumpet Concerto, written in 2003 to a commission from the soloist here, Pasi Pirinen, to whom it is also dedicated.

Unusually for a concerto, the work is cast in a symphonic four movements. The first is a jazz-tinged nightscape, growing in anger until the tension crests and the uneasy nocturne resumes. The scherzo is a rollicking cross-country chase and the slow movement a cantilena over long string lines, a repeated pulse from the bass drum hinting at danger; Kaipainen describes the rough-and-tumble finale as “Neanderthal rock’n’roll”.

The programme is completed by Haydn’s classic contribution to the genre and Henri Tomasi’s less familiar work from 1948, the edgy, neo-classical first two movements giving way to a spirited, knockabout finale. Here and elsewhere, it sounds as if Pirinen, Hannu Lintu and the Tampere players are enjoying themselves enormously.

 

Martin Anderson