theartsdesk Q&A: Trumpeter Alison Balsom

A tall and exceptionally striking Valkyrie of a blonde, Alison Balsom (b 1978) is the polar antithesis of a hard-drinking, slightly tubby, very male trumpeter from central casting. For the photoshoots which fetch up on her CD sleeves, and public performances such as Last Night of the Proms in 2009 and this month’s Classic Brits, she pours herself elegantly into a series of dresses in the style of a hot young violinist kidnapped by the marketing department. But there is of course a great deal more to Balsom.

In civvies there is only a lingering whiff of the glamour puss. She smiles, she laughs, but more often she furrows her brow in the thoughtful manner of a musician who demands to be judged on sound rather than looks. Ever since taking up the trumpet at eight at school in Royston in Hertfordshire, she has always had to wrestle with the perception that girl brass players trespass into a male bastion. And yet it’s hard to listen to her interpretations of the instrument’s twin peaks, the concertos by Haydn and Hummel, without ascribing her sensual tone to femininity. After all, that is one trump card her trumpeting heroes such as the great Maurice André, not to mention Håkan Hardenberger with whom she took private tuition in her twenties, could never bring to the table.

She will be playing both concertos regularly for the rest of her life – indeed she has just completed a tour performing both with the BBC Philharmonic. But her recording career has wandered much more widely. Her debut CD was Music for Trumpet and Organ (2002). After Bach Works for Trumpet (2005) came Caprice (2005), including transcriptions of Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Paganini's Caprice and Spanish songs by De Falla. For all wind soloists, the slender dimensions of the classical repertoire is a fact of life. Every time they enter a recording studio, they compete with the memory of an entire Valhalla of esteemed predecessors who have also ticked the same concertos off their to-do list. For her most recent CD, Italian Concertos, she rummaged around for music composed for violin or oboe by Vivaldi, Tartini, Marcello, Albinoni and Cimarosa and transplanted it onto the piccolo trumpet with its sprightly, gymnastic sound. It was this recording with the Scottish Ensemble that won her her second Female Artist of the Year award at the rebranded Classic Brits. It will be shown on ITV1 on 29 May. Alison Balsom talks to theartsdesk.

Alison Balsom performs Libertango at the 2009 Last Night of the Proms

JASPER REES: How did you make the choice of Italian concertos?

ALISON BALSOM: I’ve been playing the Vivaldi concertos for years and I just think it works really well on the trumpet. And nobody says, “Hang on, you can’t play that,” because there’s so many of them that it doesn’t seem to be a problem and does work well with the piccolo trumpet, this modern invention which I’m sure Vivaldi would have written for. The concertos have so much energy and I thought, this is so joyful and so virtuosic. A lot of them didn’t work because there was lots of double stopping. Maurice André used to do this but he hadn’t done it with these pieces so I just thought, I’m going to see what I can do with them.

How do you feel about the necessity of filching repertoire from elsewhere?

Anton Weidinger spent five years learning the Haydn concerto that had been written for this instrument before he played it in public

There is a lot of repertoire for the trumpet but to my tastes not all of it is great. I could have a full-time career just playing music written for the trumpet, no problem, but I love classical music. It’s my passion and my hobby and there isn’t very much written for the trumpet. Personally I don’t have a choice. Other trumpet players do have a choice. There is a lot being written today so you could just play that. I think it’s the case with all instruments: music that is fantastic and music that is maybe not so great. Because we don’t have the Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart to fall back on, we do have to look at what’s written today. And there is some great stuff. I’ve just very happily had a commission of James MacMillan's called Seraph. That’s going on the next disc. It’s a bit crazy but we’re putting the first performance with no patching on the disc. That is one of the rare moments where you think, this is amazing, this instrument is coming into its own now rather than looking back and going, oh what a shame, the golden period is past.

Why are you recording with no patching?

It was a really great occasion and we really love the energy and the feel that concert has. The reason there is no patching is because the BBC forgot to press record in the rehearsal. There was only one rehearsal so as you can imagine that was quite an important one to record. But I feel quite strongly. People are always asking me, “Classical music – is it dying?” Of course it’s not dying. But it’s not doing itself any favours by having these recordings which are perfect and can sometimes be lifeless. I just don't want to do that. The other extreme is to do it like this.

The promotional film about the Italian concertos on YouTube does seem to suggest a perfectionist process.

It is about the recording process and the fact that recording is very different from performing.

Do you like this rough new approach thrust upon you?

I think I do like it. With the Haydn concerto the piece itself is perfectly formed so it’s quite easy to aim for perfectionism. You’re not really editing to get rid of imperfections. You’re editing to decide on the interpretation. With the Italian concertos you’re looking for the most alive version of the phrase. In these pieces which are really flamboyant and throw caution to the wind, that’s what we did with the editing. We didn't pick the phrases that we thought were most perfect, we picked the ones that sound the most exciting. With the next disc, which is going to be big trumpet concertos with a symphony orchestra, and quirky and modern pieces, it’s even better: two of the four concertos will be from live performances. That’s what classical music needs for me. It’s got to be alive.

Alison Balsom on recording Italian Concertos

Are you using the same instrument on all of this work or diving into what seems like a bewildering array of different trumpets?

I’m just playing my main axe. I’m playing the free trumpet all the way through for everything: a lovely trumpet that I just trust, which is what you need for this sort of repertoire. I have quite a lot of trumpets. Probably about 10. I probably play three of them full-time: the piccolo, E flat for the classical-period concertos and the free trumpet which I used for everything else. It’s about sound quality. The B-flat German trumpets work fantastically well in Bruckner and Mahler and you see them a lot in the big German orchestra. They are a darker sound. I can’t tell you why the valve system makes a difference in the sound. The piccolo also has these rotary valves which is an absolute nightmare but the brand of trumpet just has a gorgeous sound. The sound is the number one priority obviously so whatever technical difficulties you have, you have to suck it up.

There are so many recordings already that I thought, don’t do it until you’ve really got something to say

Mozart wrote a trumpet concert when still a boy, but it has been lost. Do you mourn its absence?

Of course. The trumpet didn’t really exist in any way that could be used particularly well as a solo instrument in Mozart’s time.

What might it have sounded like?

It’s very hard to say because there’s not much in the symphonies. It’s very much timpanis and trumpet. Haydn’s concerto for trumpet is one of his best works. It’s so well crafted and nothing really like his orchestral trumpet writing.

You recorded it and the Hummel concerto together only after making several other CDs. What took you so long?

They are treasures of the trumpet repertoire. It’s very important that I didn’t record them too early. At the same time I'd wanted to record them since I was 18. But there are so many recordings already that I thought, don’t do it until you’ve really got something to say. I did study them in depth and I didn’t want to just be a trumpet player playing it in the traditional way just for the sake of it, so I looked at the ur-text editions to really see what Haydn had written – what was in, what was out. If there were things not in there it meant that I wasn’t really allowed to do them. You can’t add crescendos if he didn’t put one in because he was very specific about where he wanted things like crescendos. A lot of the time that piece is much more about light and shade: the contrast, dark and bright, rather than the romanticising of it that happens so often. There are places where the trumpet isn’t necessarily that stereotypical fanfare instrument, it’s very solitary and very much amongst the chamber music that’s being written.

The Haydn is just so elegant and refined. The Hummel is naughtier and more cheeky and party-like. But when I was studying Haydn for this I was discussing it with a friend and we decided the first movement is like drinking champagne but with people that you don’t know. So it’s very stately but you’re holding back a bit. The party is in the last movement. There was a lot of trying to get rid of the traditions of how to play it if there wasn’t a musical reason to do it. The second movement - you have to remember at the time nobody had heard the trumpet do anything like this. The opening, the introduction of the first movement is teasing: "Oh, it’s still fanfare music on the harmonics." The second movement takes it right into C-flat major which is just totally unheard of in the context and it’s quite a magical moment. Keeping this andante feel where it’s quite subtle. He doesn’t milk it for bars and bars of huge climax. It goes to this point where it’s the epicentre of the whole concerto, I think.

Alison Balsom plays the first movement of Haydn's trumpet concerto

Was there pressure to do them before?

Not really. I’ve had so many other things I’ve wanted to do. Earlier on in my career I wanted to play music that was quite varied that people hadn’t really heard on the trumpet. That was the way I wanted to go. I wanted to leave it. I was happy just to explore other avenues of the trumpet.

You must have lost count of the number of times you’ve performed them.

It changes every time I play them. The pieces are really transparent and I never get bored of playing them. You can’t really practise them to get good. They’re very simple. It’s more a reflection of where you are as a musician and all the things that have happened in your life quite indirectly. You can’t learn the notes and then play it well. It has to be a reflection of all your musical ideas.

When did you first play the Haydn?

I played it in my grade six when I was 11. Grade six, second movement. Grade eight, first movement. Technically it’s not demanding. Hummel is a bit more so. But that makes it extra hard stylistically. It’s very hard to be stylish. It takes a lot longer.Do you consider the context of the composer’s life?

I did a little bit but there’s a lot in the piece about the trumpet’s development and I knew those things. Of course you need to have the context of the piece but much more you need to study the musical ideas, the shapes, and the hierarchy of what’s important in the score. The Hummel is slightly more straightforward. Haydn is a masterwork and it’s very subtle. That’s what makes it incredibly difficult to pull off and make sense of it. The Hummel is more straightforward but it’s more obvious. I enjoy playing that piece immensely because it’s almost like the musical development from the Haydn. All the ideas that Haydn came up with, Hummel just took them a little bit further. There was this key issue - taking the trumpet really chromatically so it sounded really unusual with darker colours and more virtuosic as well. The last movement of the Hummel is quite virtuosic.

Had any technical advances made the Haydn possible?

Absolutely. The chromatic trumpet with keys was invented. Anton Weidinger spent five years learning the Haydn concerto that had been written for this instrument before he played it in public. He kept having to tweak the instrument until it was playable. There were still notes missing.

Trumpet players were treated like aristocracy in the courts, because what they did was so fearsomely difficult and risky

How good was he?

It's impossible to say. The instrument would have to be so difficult at the time and nowadays we have these modern wonderful instruments that make it incredibly easy. Also we don’t know what this guy was like as a musician. So it may have been wasted on him. Or may not. He may have done the definitive version that we’re all striving to play.

Hummel also wrote the concerto for Weidinger so he can’t have cocked it up that much.

I’m sure he didn’t cock it up. But trumpet players went through a period in history when they were treated like aristocracy in the courts, they were so important, because what they did was so fearsomely difficult and risky, a bit like the horn, so very highly regarded. He might have been this aristocratic man who was really good at playing this new invention. But whether it was like a sport or not I don’t know. Sadly brass instruments can seem like a sport too often, because they are physically difficult to play so when people can do it physically they think they’ve reached the pinnacle of their achievement, whereas really they’re just starting - although you do need to be able to do those things.

Are both concertos low down the ladder in terms of difficulty?

Of course lots of brass players are going to be buying my CDs and lots of them don’t really listen to that much classical music and they’re not really listening to it because they love the music but because they think, it’s trumpet, I’m interested. Therefore early on in your career making discs you have to prove that you can do that before you then play the proper music, otherwise people might say you can’t do that stuff. So I’ve sort of said, “I can do that stuff, now listen to the music.”

Who for you are the gods of the instrument?

I don’t listen to that much trumpet music, I have to say. But my hero as I was growing up was certainly Maurice André. And Håkan Hardenberger is one of the trumpet players that I really admire as well. But I would really be careful of not copying what they do. Making a conscious effort to see, if I play the way they play that bit, why am I doing that? Does the composer allow that?

Why don’t you listen to trumpet music?

Just because there’s so much great music and great artists playing. I’m trying to take my inspiration from instrumentalists that are taken seriously as great artists. Lots of violinists, pianist and singers – I want to learn from them and take that to the trumpet. Not many people are doing that.

When did you start doing that?

I’ve always been quite interested in it. I’ve always realised that there’s not really a barrier. Of course we all play different instruments but ultimately who are the strongest musicians? They’re the ones I’m attracted to. It doesn’t really matter what I’m playing.

Alison Balsom plays the second and third movements of Haydn's trumpet concerto

What was your second instrument when you were studying?

Piano. But I’m not very good. I do touch it but it’s very frustrating when you want to do stuff and your fingers don’t allow it. I wish I could play the piano better.

Do you ever improvise?

In my career at the moment I don’t need to that much. There are some pieces I play that have an element of improvisation. But I don’t do it a lot. I would certainly do it in the future if it were required of me and I’m passionate about jazz. I think people are beginning to realise how powerful a solo instrument it can be. It’s got so many colours and it can compete with a big orchestra and it’s got these amazing roots in jazz and crossing classical and jazz... the integration of those two styles is just totally commonplace now in contemporary music. And the trumpet does really well out of that. It’s an incredibly versatile instrument, I think. And given the right composers writing for it, it’s got such a great future.

The trumpet is predominantly and historically a male instrument. Was there a barrier you had to clear to enter this world?

There are always barriers if you’re the minority. But you just have to find a way of using it to your advantage. People would remember me because I was a novelty but then they wouldn’t take me seriously. Therefore I had to be remembered as a novelty but then also keep their attention and be taken seriously. I would say that being a soloist, male or female, on any instrument is so tough. Just how strong you have to be as a person is even harder than fighting that.

But the glamorous photoshoots are something that don’t tend to happen with male musicians of your age. Is not looking like the back end of a bus a cross you have to bear?

No, I don’t mind it, because I like going clothes shopping. I would go to a fashion show if I was invited. So it’s not that uninteresting to me. But at the same time it has nothing to do with my music. I’ve heard comments, “Well, she’s only done well because she’s a girl with blonde hair.” I spent two years on the New Generation Artists scheme playing on the radio with the BBC orchestras playing crazy music that nobody has ever heard. They wouldn’t have given that opportunity to me if they’d thought, well she looks good on stage. It’s not something I ever consider when I’m playing, practising, preparing, thinking about music. But when I’m not thinking about music I might pop into a shop, or I’ll haggle with my stylist to see if she’ll sell me the dress after the shoot.

There’s still no getting away from the fact that sex sells.

Of course. Everyone knows that. So why would I jump off that bandwagon? What world can I change? At the same time I will never let that compromise what I’m doing musically.

It seems a particular affliction in the world of the violin.

But how far do you want to go? Are they playing with the Vienna Philharmonic? Are they doing those gigs or are they just doing the more commercial gigs? Are they playing the top gigs because if they are they deserve to musically? No major orchestra is going to take you because you look nice, and if you’re fantastic at your instrument you will rise to the top no matter what you look like. I think you need to be charismatic but you don’t need to be beautiful.

Why did you hit on the trumpet?

The question I’ve never really answered. I was seven or eight. I was at a little primary school in my town where we had the chance to play most instruments, which obviously doesn’t happen any more so I wouldn’t be playing if I was at school now. The trumpet was a very cool instrument for an eight-year-old girl. Me and all my girlfriends thought, wow, yeah OK. And then I joined the local band and made lots of friends so that was my social life. I went through stages where I didn’t do that much trumpet practice but I was playing in bands at school. When I got to 12 or 13 where they do become more gender-separated I was already hooked and very committed. It’s amazing how it was never an issue as I grew up. It’s only now that I do PR and media that everyone asks me about it. As a girl growing up it was, “If you want to do it,  just do it.”

Did you enjoy your stint competing on BBC Young Musician of the Year? (Pictured above: Balsom with her Classic Brit award.)

Not at all. I hated it. I wasn’t ready for it as a player or as a musician. But at the same time it was my stepping stone to being a soloist. If I hadn’t done it I wouldn’t have been a soloist because it gave me the Young Concert Artists Trust. You get one year’s representation. They’re not agents but in an advisory way they will help you and then you audition for them properly if you want to be represented by them. I had three years with them as my agents just learning how to pull off being a trumpet soloist. With the repertoire it’s incredibly difficult because there’s no path to follow. You need to put programmes together which audiences want to hear but have musical integrity. It takes years of seeing what works, what doesn’t. And physically, stamina-wise, you’re always thinking about what’s possible. People quite often say, “Come on this tour, you can do a concert every night and each concert we want you to play four concertos.” You just have to know what you can and can’t do.

This year the Classical Brits lost a syllable and are now known as the Classic Brits. Are you at peace with that change?

I think it’s a good thing that it’s been rebranded. It’s a lot more honest. Before there was a lot of what the PR companies call "core classical music". This time round we had Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger" and things that are classic in the wider sense. There was a performance of Les Mis. The other things were crossover classical or music theatre. I was proud to be involved as one of the few proper classical acts.

You’re now a mother. What does your young son make of the sound of the trumpet?

I think he thinks of it as my voice.

Alison Balsom plays the Hummel trumpet concerto