City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra with Christian Barraclough (trumpet)

Les préludes by Franz Liszt is known to us more than we realise because its memorable melodies are often used as background music for TV programmes, documentaries in particular. Its rhapsodic form and dramatic highlights make it an excellent starting item for this colourful concert. The Trumpet Concerto by Alexander Arutunian, first performed in 1950, is a hot favourite. Philip Smith, principal trumpet player of the New York Philharmonic said in an interview, ‘One of the reasons this piece has become so popular among trumpet players is just that it’s a flashy piece. It has a very Gypsyish, Russian, Armenian kind of sound, with very soulful, beautiful melodies and plenty of exciting rapid-tonguing kind of things.’ Exercising a little charity, we get the gist of his message, which certainly whets the appetite. We can feel the full blast when we hear the concerto live at this intriguing concert in which Jean Sibelius’s ground-breaking First Symphony forms the climax. So many of Sibelius’s musical fingerprints are to be found here: deep sonorities; broad melodies growing from fragments; evocative orchestrations that have come to be associated with the struggling nationalism of Finland. Although the first of seven symphonies, it was written at the age of 33 and reveals the fine intellectual and emotional characteristics of a major European composer at the height of his powers.

An added attraction is the chance to hear Christian Barraclough, the rising trumpet star who plays the solo part in the concerto by Arutunian. Christian has played in most of the major concert halls around Europe and with most of the leading British orchestras. Seize this chance to witness the ever-rising trajectory of his sparkling career.