#Vivaldi concerto for two trumpets full#

This was the only way, however, to place Wynton in the identical acoustic environment that he occupied during the original sessions. It may seem unwarranted to travel 3,500 miles to record one trumpet soloist in an empty church. Parts – this time without the orchestra being physically present. Barnabas, with edited multi-track masters in hand, to record the additional trumpet In April of the same year, we returned to England and St. Once we were confident that all musical and technical aspects of the recording were covered (without the additional trumpets), we came back to New York and edited the tapes. For instance, in the case of the Telemann Concerti for Three Trumpets (recorded in February 1987), our soloist occupied a position to the left of the conductor.

The first step in the involved process was to record each selection with Wynton playing the first trumpet part in real-time with the orchestra and Raymond Leppard. In this particular case, five omni-directional microphones were used to pick up the entire ensemble with two additional spot microphones-one for our soloist and the other just to give a bit more clarity to the woodwinds. This allows the normal balance and blending of instrumental choirs to be achieved with minimal reinforcement from spot microphones. Our basic philosophy has always been to capture the sound of a performing ensemble with as few microphones as necessary. Chief Engineer Bud Graham and I decided to address this concern by placing each trumpet overdub in the exact acoustic setting that normally would be occupied by different soloists in a real-time recording. My main concern, however, was to prevent technology from descending into gimmickry or obstructing musical inspiration. The choice of conductor and orchestra was an obvious one: Raymond Leppard and the English Chamber Orchestra, whose previous collaborations with Wynton greatly contributed to the success of two Grammy-Award-winning albums.Īs producer, I saw this technical “jig-saw puzzle” as a very appealing challenge.

#Vivaldi concerto for two trumpets full#

This logistical dilemma eventually inspired Wynton to volunteer a more novel approach-he, himself, would play all the solo parts (up to eight in the Biber!), taking full advantage of our digital recording technology and his instrumental virtuosity. Names of first-class soloists were suggested, and the performers were contacted, but persistent scheduling conflicts threatened the realization of the project. It is easy to understand, therefore, why we were very excited when Wynton Marsalis suggested recording an album featuring Baroque music for various groupings of trumpets.įirst it was necessary to decide which colleagues might join Wynton in this endeavor. One of the challenges in putting together an album for solo trumpet and orchestra is finding interesting repertoire.