There is a profusion of collections of trumpet concertos currently available by a number of virtuosos, including Maurice Andre and, of course, the superb Swedish player Hakan Hardenberger, so a new one has to have something special to recommend it. Although this Nimbus disc is titled to indicate virtuosity (which it contains in abundance), in fact the layout of the programme is designed to obtain maximum variety of style and texture. The programme is framed by bravura works of Carl Heinrich Biber who also provides a centrepiece, a Sonata Paschalis with a resplendent regal flavour. These pieces include timpani and, with the help of the resonant acoustics of Watford Town Hall, the result brings an element of spectacle, even though the group of instruments is not large.
Both the Molter and the Michael Haydn concertos explore the solo instrument's extreme upper tessitura and essay an atmosphere of cliff-hanging tension, but John Wallace's technique is more than equal to the histrionics and high lyrical lines. In fact, his manner in the Molter is agreeably relaxed, helped by the elegant and buoyant accompaniment provided by Simon Wright and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Leopold Mozart's Concerto is taxing too, but rewarding for both player and listener. Of the two Mozart divertimentos which exist in a manuscript in Leopold's handwriting, K187 is known to be spurious. They are each collections of brief miniatures, with K187 offering eight within its nine-and-a-half minute span and the shorter K188 five. The flutes in the scoring bring a mellifluous contrast. (Fasch's Concerto offers yet more diversity of colour by featuring the oboe d'amore in a subsidiary role.) But it is doubtful whether Wolfgang really had a great deal to do with this music (written about 1773) which in the case of K187 includes borrowings from Gluck's opera Paride ed Elena.
Altogether this makes a well varied and enjoyable programme with John Wallace triumphantly overcoming all technical obstacles and communicating his enjoyment of often rather slight music so that the listener's attention is readily held. The recording's reverberation does not prevent a realistic focus and the sound has plenty of orchestral body with the gleaming trumpet timbre dominating as it should.'