ITG 99 Conference Coverage

Recital: Niklas Eklund, Baroque trumpet
with Maria Keohane, soprano, and Governors Musick Orchestra

Henry Meredith, Director, L'Harmonie Universelle Ancienne, reporter

An ITG Conference recital by Niklas Eklund had been eagerly awaited ever since the young Swedish baroque trumpet virtuoso won the First International Altenburg Comp

Niklas Eklund & Maria Keohane

etition for Baroque Trumpet at Bad Säckingen in 1996. Later that year, an injury forced the cancellation of his appearance at the ITG Conference in Long Beach, but his teacher, Edward Tarr, filled in admirably on short notice. Enhanced by subsequent CD issues and live performances around the world, Niklas Eklund's growing reputation created a level of excitement that could be felt as soon as one entered the hall.

But first, a prelude: two pieces performed by the Ohio State Trumpet Ensemble. Continuing the theme of the afternoon's Eastman Brass Quintet program, which featured works arranged and composed by Verne Reynolds, Ohio State's trumpet students, directed by William Campbell, began with a very brisk rendition of an Allegro movement of Reynolds Music for 5 Trumpets. The longer Fantasia for 7 Trumpets of Eric Ewazen followed — another quick and brilliant rendition, which also lacked somewhat in precision, perhaps because of the tempos chosen. Good dynamic contrasts and a confident approach brought some stunning effects, too. Carrying a theme forward from the afternoon was thoughtful programming. Might I suggest, however, that a more appropriate prelude to an upcoming concert could (should?) be designed to set our ears and minds for the music to follow? For future ITG conferences, an introduction to a

Niklas Eklund

solo baroque trumpet concert might be a perfect place for a baroque trumpet ensemble performance! Usually, the token natural trumpet group for the conference is relegated to a spot on the Festival of Trumpets concert. If not actually performed on baroque trumpets, even modern instruments, plus timpani, could have given us something like Altenburg's Concerto for 7 trumpets utilizing all of Ohio State's members and putting us mentally into the 18^th-century style.

Fortunately, the anticipation of the audience had not waned during the modern prelude pieces. Stephen Jones of Kalamazoo announced the evening's repertoire changes (as newly printed programs were being distributed), and introduced the evening's featured artist and his cohorts. Prof. Jones reiterated a frequent comment made in connection with Niklas Eklund's playing: "One is taken by the beauty of the music, and not by the difficulty of the instrument!" The audience was not disappointed in this regard!

However, we still had to wait through a long and fretful tune-up by the violone (but they do have six strings), and then by the remaining instruments of the Governor's Musick Orchestra. As others observed, it took guts to play using original instruments on the same stage with this consummate artist, and the marvelous soprano, Maria Keohane, his co-conspirator and recording partner for a soon-to-be-released CD.

A familiar fanfare, Let the Bright Seraphim from Handel's Samson, opened the recital with brilliance. The smiling Swedish gentleman, in his open collar blue shirt and tux, and the attractive Swedish brunette, in her canary yellow dress, took center

Niklas Eklund

stage and performed the work from memory. Keohane breathed between the words "trumpets" and "blow" (as do most singers), yet throughout the concert she exhibited amazing breath control. The da capo featured appropriate ornamental figuration from both soloists, and at the word "uplifted," Eklund's echo into the upper register seemed to quote a motive from Handel's Eternal Source of Light Divine, forecasting an encore piece to come. A final flourish brought Eklund's Egger trumpet to a high d''' and the audience to ecstatic shouts and whistles of approval.

Next, using music, the duo performed Vivaldi's Combatta un gentil cor in C, and this aria provided an opportunity for Eklund to display some stunningly long lip trills! The singer's crystal clear coloratura was a perfect partner to the trumpet, and tasty ornaments abounded in the da capo. These two soprano "voices" were always equally matched in every respect volume, color, inflection, balance, and an intonation so impecable that almost deafening difference tones often resulted.

A solo aria for soprano and strings followed Miss Keohane's brief verbal program notes. Vivaldi's Agitato da due venti (from "Griselda") exhibited an amazing virtuosity in which her wide leaps, arpeggios, and scales were more precisely executed than those in the echoing strings.

Then Eklund took a turn by himself and concluded the first half of the program with Henry Purcell's well-known Sonata in D for trumpet and strings, again from memory. Dynamic contrast was emphasized in the outside movements, but in the middle Adagio movement, the strings alone might have accentuated Purcell's dramatic harmonic language and surprising chromatic shifts.

After a brief intermission, the soloists returned to the stage with just the harpsichord and cello c

Maria Keohane

ontinuo to perform Caldara's beautiful aria, La Vittoria Segue, on which Eklund victoriously picked off high c'''s and high e'''s. This was followed by Mio Tesoro, one of my treasures from the Brass Press edition of Alessandro Scarlatti's "7 Arie con Tromba Sola." The performance of this lovely minuet danced with graceful figuration and subtle notes inégale in echo, but the hemiolas might have been more pronounced in the continuo. The strings came back and played Du Caurroy's Fantasie No. 22 for viols on their "modern" violins. The need for more rehearsal time with the orchestra caused the few revisions in the repertoire from that published in the program booklet, especially the Leopold Mozart Concerto that many of the audience had been looking forward to hearing. Nevertheless, I heard no complaints from any audience member about the music that was presented.

The finale was a complete performance of Bach's Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen. The first movement's ideal tempo unfortunately got away from the orchestra at times, but an occasional decoration enhanced the solo lines. Applause that interrupted the performance after the opening trumpet aria was silenced by Eklund's remark, as he took a seat for the subsequent soprano solo movements, "Now comes the best part!" Here's where Miss Keohane's astounding breath control supported her purity of sound, a tone with warmth, depth, and power, but never lifeless even when ocassionally without vibrato. After the contrinuo alone accompanied her solo work in the Recitativo and Aria movements, the best violin playing of the evening came with the opening statements of the solo first and second violins in Bach's imaginative Chorale movement, and the viola player acrobatically accomplished the turning of the cellist's page for the uninterrupted segue into the Alleluja movement.

The well-deserved standing ovation was immediate and unanimous, and the shouts and whistles refused to subside until we were treated to an encore. The beautiful Eternal Source of Light Divine from Handel's Birthday Ode for Queen Anne was offered, and at its conclusion, the instant "Bravos" and a second standing ovation again would not be stilled until Niklas came out and said "We don't have anything else prepared, but we thought we'd start over from the beginning again!" With chops and vocal chords not showing the least sign of strain or fatigue, that's just what they did - reprised the opening Let the Bright Seraphim but this time with new ornaments, which brought chuckles from the knowledgeable, and a trumpet flourish to high d''' which brought the audience to its feet once more. The affable personalities of the soloists was reflected in their friendly backstage reception of autograph seeking fans, and their brilliant musicianship will be long remembered by this year's ITG participants.

Niklas Eklund's 3-hole style Egger trumpet, with its more conical bell flare, yields a focused and sweet sound, without the "edge" often present when the 4-hole Keavey trumpets with their modern bell flares are utilized. Still, such replicas must be categorized as UNnatural trumpets. Purists would agree that the 2-hole model - "one on this end for the mouthpiece, and one on the other end for the sound to come out!" -- is indisputably the only truly "natural" trumpet. It is hoped that one day soon, a player the caliber of Niklas Eklund will explore and revive the authentic playing of baroque trumpets, which are of course the farthest away acoustically from their modern counterparts than any other precursor of today's instruments. Nevertheless, the growing knowledge and understanding of performers and audiences alike is gratifying. Furthermore, the artistic level to which the playing of the baroque trumpet repertoire on instruments of appropriate acoustic length and tone color has risen, as demonstrated in Niklas Eklund's recital, means that the "lost art" is achievable very early in the new millenium.