Kathleen Battle & Wynton Marsalis: Baroque Duet

Read About This Recording

Heroic and noble, the sound of the trumpet not only characterized military and regal music but also demonstrated the strength and power of the church. The trumpet has been part of music since the earliest days and came into its own with the music of Baroque composers. The tracks on Baroque Duet feature Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis and recreate works for soprano and trumpet from the 17th and 18th century that typify the various ways the trumpet was employed in Baroque art music. An album that is a tour de force for both artists, it is a treasure of musical delights both familiar and obscure. Probably the most famous work from the Baroque Era featuring soprano and trumpet is the aria "Let the Bright Seraphim" from the oratorio Samson. It is the final climactic aria and was originally written for Christina Avoglio who premiered the aria in 1743 as well as Valentine Snow, whom Handel called "the finest trumpeter of the day." It's interesting to note that Handel also wrote the glorious trumpet parts of Messiah specifically with Snow in mind. Battle and Marsalis create a splendid pair with dazzling support from Marsalis as Battle extols us to celebrate the triumphs of Samson in death and life everlasting. The album also includes works by Bach and Scarlatti as well as two lesser known composers Alessandro Stradella and Luca Antonio Predieri.

Today Wynton Marsalis is considered primarily a jazz musician yet his early work playing classical music is exceptional and should not be missed. He had his first critical success with his Grammy® winning recording of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto and his talent is evident. It's a shame Mr. Marsalis hasn't continued to record more of this type of repertoire — his tone, concept and technique are unmatched and can be quite extraordinary. Along with the superb playing of Marsalis and buttery tone of Kathleen Battle, the duo is supported by the Orchestra of St. Luke's, an under-appreciated orchestra from New York, led by John Nelson. And for good measure, the legendary Anthony Newman sits in on keyboard. This is a record that should be in everyone's collection and certainly one of the best from the compact disc era.

—Terrence London

Quotes

"Wynton Marsalis is, in every way of considering the title, the Compleat Musician. Whether caught in a jazz club or concert hall or on Sesame Street, there is no musician out there whose merest flourish of sound speaks more eloquently or purposefully or deeply." —The New York Times

"Battle sounds at her brightest and best, radiantly nimble while Marsalis supplies burnished pliant work." —Los Angeles Times

Extended Article

The trumpet and the soprano may seem an odd pairing — the brass instrument loud and militant, the voice tender and lyrical. Yet Baroque composers felt they made a completely natural couple, particularly when the vocal writing was especially brilliant (and, when pressed to the right lips, the trumpet can be a lyrical instrument).

Here's a collection in which two great musicians team up for a real tour de force. Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis are especially put through their paces by four arias and a cantata by Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of the now more famous Domenico, the Scarlatti responsible for all those harpsichord sonatas. Alessandro's pieces heard here are tremendously virtuosic, despite the brevity of each movement.

The rest of the recital is a treasure of delights familiar and obscure. Among the better-known pieces is “Let the Bright Seraphim,” extracted from Handel's oratorio Samson. There are three Handel items here, all together, and as annotator Ellen Harris points out, each showcases the trumpet in one of its three traditional roles: military, regal or religious.

Falling entirely into the religious sphere, at least conceptually, are three pieces drawn from the cantatas of J.S. Bach — religious, but certainly not somber. Most appealing of all is the aria “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” (“Rejoice in the Lord, All Ye Lands”), which requires from both voice and trumpet a high degree of agility and speed and the ability to launch notes into the stratosphere.

Selections by two lesser-known Italian composers round out the collection. Alessandro Stradella was involved in an embezzlement scheme against the Catholic Church and was ultimately murdered as a result of a love affair, and his music is almost as colorful as you'd expect from his biography. Luca Antonio Predieri was a less flamboyant fellow, but his pieces are some of the most spectacularly florid on this CD.

Battle and Marsalis are backed by the crack Orchestra of St. Luke's under John Nelson and at the keyboard sits none other than Anthony Newman, the one-time bad boy of the American harpsichord. In every way, this is a top-notch and glamorous Baroque collection.

—James Reel

Contents

Handel: Let the Bright Seraphim (Samson, HWV57); Eternal source of light divine (Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV74); Alla voci del bronzo guerriero (O! come chiare e belle, HWV143, Cantata No. 19); A. Scarlatti: From 7 Arie con Tromba Sola: No. 1: Si suoni la tromba; No. 3: Con voce festiva; No. 4: Rompe sprezza; No. 6: Mio tesoro per te moro (Aria in forma di Menuet alla Francese); Su le sponde del Tebro (Cantata a voce sola con Violini e Tromba); Predieri: Pace una volta (Zenobia); Stradella: Sinfonia before II barcheggio (Part 1) for Trumpet, Strings and Basso Continuo (D Major); Bach: Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not (Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, Cantata No. 21); From Cantata No. 51: I. Aria: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen; IV. Chorale: Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren Alleluja.

Kathleen Battle, Soprano; Wynton Marsalis, Trumpet; Anthony Newman, Harpsichord/Organ Continuo; Orchestra of St. Luke's; John Nelson, Conductor.

CD Special Features

As featured in the PBS broadcast "Baroque Duet"

"Battle sounds at her brightest and best, radiantly nimble, while Marsalis supplies burnished, pliant work..." —Los Angeles Times

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