Foundation: The Trumpet Concertos – Rex Richardson, trumpet w/ Classic FM Radio Orchestra, Grigor Palikarov, Conductor

Beautiful repertoire interpreted by the critically acclaimed trumpet virtuoso, Rex Richardson – one of the finest trumpet players on the scene today!!

This is not a scholarly project. It was not created using period instruments, or having paid careful attention to “authentic” baroque and classical period performance practice. Rather, it’s a personal take on the music that acclaimed trumpet veteran, Rex Richardson, listened to for endless hours when he first discovered a love for the trumpet. It’s a labor of love wrought by a musician who is not primarily known as an interpreter of traditional works, but for whom they form a crucial foundation.

As his career has unfolded, the focus has been almost exclusively on new music and jazz. This is the eighth album he has released as the primary soloist or bandleader, and he has appeared as soloist on a number of others featuring one or more living composers. As such, he admits that an album of baroque and classical music is something of an anomaly for him.

The historical importance of these works, and their individual stories, are well known: The Haydn and Hummel concertos were the first composed for the keyed bugle, the chromatic predecessor of the modern instruments; the Telemann was written for the natural trumpet in its golden age of the high baroque; the Albinoni and Tartini appropriated as trumpet repertoire by Maurice André in the late 20th century, having originally been composed to feature oboe and violin, respectively.
Their common thread is that, for Rex’s generation, they represent repertoire that defined the language of classical trumpet. Recordings by André, Roger Delmotte, Hakån Hardenberger, Wynton Marsalis and others filled his ears – and his heart – with the joy of what was possible on his instrument.

This is his own humble take on this beautiful repertoire – repertoire that defined the language of classical trumpet.