| Alison Balsom masterclass at the Guildhall School | April 9, 2007 | |||||||||
   |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
On November 2nd 2006 Alison Balsom gave a masterclass at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Balsom is Visiting Professor of trumpet at the Guildhall School and an international soloist, EMI recording artist and recipient of many awards including the 2006 Classical Brit award for Best Young British Performer. The masterclass participants were Robert Wallace, Philip Cobb, and Christopher Evans: all acquitted themselves superbly. Their performances were enhanced by the skilled and sympathetic accompaniments of Philip Shannon and Susanna Stranders. The masterclass was hosted by Paul Cosh. Robert Wallace began the masterclass, playing the Arutunian Concerto. Balsom’s interesting comments on his performance included not necessarily trying to emulate the recorded performances of the Russian virtuosi such as Dokshizer but looking for one’s own voice. She was also very clear on the need to be brave, to “go for it”: she said that as trumpet players “we find it easy to be cautious because we worry about knocking things over … but people will remember if they were gripped by what you did”. Balsom’s further comments included not overdoing the vibrato, using it only when it is musically justified and not only as a fallback because one is unsure what to do with a long note. Next Philip Cobb played the Telemann Concerto in D which he was preparing for the Maurice André competition later in November. Balsom offered very little criticism of his very fine performance, saying that she would change nothing. Since history records that Cobb then went on to win the “most notable newcomer” award in the André, she may have had a point. The rest of Cobb’s time was spent on parts of the Robert Planel Concerto, in which Balsom emphasised thinking in horizontal lines, and not getting stuck on details. She also mentioned the importance of listening to lots of other performers, not just trumpet players but all kinds of musicians: the great cellist Rostropovich was cited, for example. And we should all play Bach, she added. Also important was the need to “engage the audience in the quieter moments, to draw them in”, and to communicate with the pianist. Balsom concluded Cobb’s time with a few comments on the need to work towards optimal breathing through the whole programme. Last to play was Christopher Evans, with Jean Françaix’s Prélude, Sarabande et Gigue. Balsom explained to the audience that Françaix had originally been told to rewrite this piece as it was too hard, but it was nevertheless the hard, first version that we were hearing tonight. Later she added that it is great because “it is so untrumpetlike – it is delicate, too delicate for the trumpet – but that’s why it is so fantastic!” She felt that the Françaix piece is a real test of endurance, but added that Steve Keavy had told her, when she was his student, that with properly organized breathing you can’t get tired. And, she added, even if you’re feeling it, as the performer, we the audience don’t need to know about it – it’s all part of the game to look and sound comfortable and relaxed to the audience, whatever is really going on. She suggested taking more time over the cadenza: it not only helps to make sense of it musically but also helps with the physical side of actually playing it. Another idea was that a muted passage should be “more dreamy, and less notey”, with more expression and more rubato: Balsom was very clearly encouraging Evans to experiment with this passage and explore ways of performing it. On learning the music Balsom said, emphasising this again later, that you must learn a piece till you can play it in your sleep – and then you can start working with it! Once Christopher Evans’s time was over, host Paul Cosh ran a lively and interesting Q&A session where the audience put many questions to Alison Balsom, to which she replied with good humour and a great deal of practical help and information for trumpet players. It was clear that the masterclass was greatly appreciated by participants and audience alike.
Links:
Note:
|
||||||||||
|
|