"Behold the greatest trumpeter on earth," says the Times of London about Sweden's
Hakan Hardenberger, and after hearing this recording it's hard to disagree. An hour of contemporary music for solo trumpet may seem like quite a chore for anyone except trumpeters, but if anyone can pull it off, it is
Hardenberger. This collection of five works runs the gamut when it comes to extended technique, and to pushing the trumpet (and the trumpeter) to the edge of conventional technique. The title work, inspired by a series of paintings of which one is reproduced on the album cover, is especially full of trumpet tricks, but it is the "air columns" -- unvoiced, toneless blasts of air -- dividing up the different sections of the work that make the strongest impression. Likewise, it is the large arcs of
Hardenberger's playing, compelling even for listeners not especially enamored of the trumpet or of contemporary composition, that really set this recording apart. The central work, Poul Ruders' Reveille-Retraite, will be the most accessible for many listeners with its (nonliteral) references to military trumpet music, and it is hard to imagine its sharp, sparkling lines being rendered more skillfully than they are here. This is a virtuoso performance, in every sense of the work, and as usual with the BIS label the engineering is outstanding.