Well...guess I've been on a brass kick lately, what with the two Stagliano posts, so here is something by a distinguished colleague of James Stagliano's, namely Roger Voisin. Recorded in 1954 for Unicorn and re released on the Kapp label, Voisin leads the Boston based "The Brass Ensemble" in a program of favorites from the late Remaissance and early Baroque periods.
This recording is important for several reasons. First, it is one of the first, if not the first to explore the vast baroque literature that had been written for, or arranged for, brass instruments. Second, it is a testament to the lifelong work of Robert King as arranger and advocate of brass music for various sized ensembles. I mentioned in a previous post that Mr King for years ran a successful and indispensable mail order service for brass players just a few miles from my boyhood home. King arranged scores of pieces for quartet, quintet, octet etc. and his reasonably priced charts were the basis of many a brass ensembles' library. And, they are fun to play!
Roger Voisin needs no introduction however, I'll say that he was a man that dedicated his life to trumpet performance, brass music literature, scores of students and the city of Boston, of which he loved so deeply. Roger was one of the last proponents of the great French School of trumpet playing that dominated orchestras like the BSO for over half a century. I remember him from several master classes as kindly, patient, but authoritative just the same.
I have to admit that I was expecting more favorable musical results here. Most of the record sounds like it was recorded in someone's den, way too small an acoustic for the sounds of trumpets, trombones, horns and tuba. The overall playing at times is downright sloppy with out of tune horns, bunches of flubbed notes and numerous suspect entrances. I am also surprised at how Roger and Armando Ghitalla have a difficult time blending throughout the program. My suspicion is that these were no more than run throughs and that the recording process was maybe semi professional at best.. I recall that when Roger recorded his 4 or 5 lp set of trumpet concertos for Kapp, there were many instances where he sounded down right labored and worn out. I suspect that Kapp was trying to get everything done in one shot come hell or high water. Whatever the case, this particular record should be best remembered as possibly he first of its kind so as a historical document, it is vital, imperative and worth a listen. However, to be frank, all the repertoire has since been recorded in better acoustic, by technically sure musicians under proper recording circumstances.
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