Twenty-five-year-old Giuliano Sommerhalder is principal trumpet in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with many of Europe’s leading orchestras. Here he shines in his first recital program on disc, and an interesting program it is. I’ll let Sommerhalder explain the raison d’être of this project, quoted from his extensive program notes that provide detailed background on every piece:

“This recording features virtuoso works written for trumpet or cornet and orchestra in late Romantic and Neoromantic styles. While they form part of the repertoire at conservatories and in competitions all over the world, they are hardly ever performed in concert. With the exception of the concerto by Oskar Böhme, the versions for symphony orchestra have so far never been commercially recorded. The scores have been rediscovered at various places in the world after many years of research, or have been reconstructed. At a time when many trumpet soloists rely mainly on transcriptions of works originally composed for other instruments, it is hoped that these recordings may be a stimulus to revive original trumpet works which are difficult but altogether finely composed and well-suited to the instrument.”

All the composers on Sommerhalder’s generous 80-minute program are either German or Russian and, with the exception of Vladimir Peskin (1906–88), were all born in the period 1860–70. Except for Peskin’s concerto (1948), the compositions all date from 1899–1910. The strongest works are the two full-length, three-movement concertos by Peskin (the first of his three for the instrument) and Böhme, lasting about 20 minutes each. Peskin’s is in fact the best work on the program, with a first movement highly reminiscent of Glière or Glazunov and luxuriantly orchestrated à la Richard Strauss. The slow movement is profoundly lyrical in the best romantic vein, and the zippy finale brings to mind the high jinks of some of Khachaturian’s more exuberant pieces. This is definitely an option for soloists looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous Haydn and Hummel concertos.

The remaining works are far less attractive and hold little interest except as competition and conservatory recital material—all show and no substance, little more than successions of theatrical, clichéd gestures that could as effectively be executed by a clarinet, a violin, or a flute with no loss of individuality—arpeggios (especially those built on the diminished seventh chord), trills, melodic sequences, chromatic scales, all broken into bits and pieces separated by pregnant pauses.

Sommerhalder is obviously a highly competent player with technique to spare. His strongest suits are a well-developed sense of phrasing and deeply felt lyricism. On the other hand, his tone is a bit thin and there is too much vibrato for my taste. The two concertos are played on trumpet, the other works on cornet, though I hear little dif
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Giuliano Sommerhalder is only 24 years old, but he has already held the solo trumpet chair in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra for three years. Before beginning his tenure there, he won prizes in many international competitions, including the Maurice André competition (2003), the Prague Spring Festival (2003), the Timofei Dokshizer Competition in Vilnius (2002) and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory Competition in Moscow (1997). Now this remarkable young man has released a recording of some of the most beautiful and challenging late Romantic and Neo-Romantic repertoire for the trumpet. All the works presented here, with the exception of the Böhme Concerto in E minor, are recorded in their orchestral versions for the first time, made possible by the soloist’s years of searching for the original scores. Sommerhalder’s playing is always resonant and agile, flowing effortlessly from phrase to phrase. His sound is complemented by a most vocal and expressive vibrato, which may remind one of the late Timofei Dokshizer. His articulation is brilliant and clear, and he grabs the listener immediately from the first notes of the Peskin Concerto. The CD has a wonderfully live and present sound, which skilfully captures Giuliano’s trumpet and cornet and faithfully delivers the orchestral power. The orchestra’s leader, Maestro Förster, is a responsive and supportive accompanist to the soloist. The CD features well-researched and informative liner notes written by Giuliano’s father, Max, who is professor of trumpet at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and a successful professional trumpeter in Germany. The elder Sommerhalder also composed the cadenza for the Böhme Concerto and orchestrated the Brandt Concertpiece No. 2 recorded here. Romantic Virtuosity is the most technically impressive and musically satisfying recording featuring the trumpet that this reviewer has heard in quite some time. With its release, Giuliano Sommerhalder takes his rightful place as one of the leading soloists of his generation.