Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Direct Message: 20th & 21st Century Works for Trumpet & Piano (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Matilda Lloyd is a fast-rising star of the trumpet world, having won the BBC Young Musician of the year Brass Final as well as the Eric Aubier International Trumpet Competition, and having made an impressive solo debut at the BBC Proms. Matilda’s debut album reflects her desire to broaden the trumpet repertoire, with no fewer than three works recorded for the first time, by composers Giles Swayne, Deborah Pritchard and Alex Woolf. Also included on the recording are forgotten works of the 20th and 21st centuries by Jacques Castérède and Raymond Gallois Montbrun alongside staples of the trumpet repertoire, such as Enescu’s Légende and Peter Maxwell Davies’s impressive showpiece, Sonata for Trumpet and Piano Op.1.

At the time of this album’s release in 2018, British trumpeter Matilda Lloyd was just 22 years old. She looked older, and her powers of programming and interpretation also suggested a more seasoned musician. Perhaps trends go in circles, with the reigning queen of British trumpet, Alison Balsom, being succeeded by an entirely different kind of musician: where Balsom has often played glittering, pristine renditions of the classic Baroque trumpet repertory, Lloyd has a highly expressive, slightly rough tone that is at home in contemporary music. On Direct Message, she applies it to a variety of music ranging from Enescu’s Légende to the titular work by Lloyd’s contemporary Alex Woolf. Much of the music is adventurous: the program opens with Peter Maxwell-Davies’ Trumpet Sonata, Op. 1, pioneering in its day with its use of 12-tone techniques, and still bracing. Things go in various directions from here: Deborah Pritchard’s Seven Halts on the Somme (2016) is one of several intensely pictorial works by that composer that respond almost palpably to paintings and give a sense of the composer’s synesthesia, while Giles Swayne’s Sangre Viva ventures into extended technique. Yet the whole program is anchored in a certain French conservatory sensibility, exemplified directly by the Enescu and the final Sonatine of Jacques Casterède, but also by the restrained expressiveness of the whole. Accompanist John Reid has the sense to stay out of the way of an explosive young talent. The album has a nifty way of touching the bases expected for a debut while still announcing a new and original talent. Highly recommended.

Tracklist:
1-01. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonata, Op. 1 – I. Allegro moderato (01:55)
1-02. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonata, Op. 1 – II. Lento (02:51)
1-03. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonata, Op. 1 – III. Allegro vivo (02:13)
1-04. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Sarabande et finale (06:52)
1-05. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Direct Message (06:26)
1-06. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Legende (06:21)
1-07. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 1, The Grand Mine (01:01)
1-08. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 2, Trones Wood (01:00)
1-09. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 3, Pozieres. The Moulin (01:37)
1-10. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 4, Warlencourt Ridge (01:48)
1-11. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 5, The Sucrerie. Longueval (00:44)
1-12. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 6, Flatiron Copse (01:48)
1-13. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – 7 Halts on the Somme (Version for Trumpet & Piano) – No. 7, Guillemont to Ginch (02:42)
1-14. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Sangre Viva, Op. 92 – I. Dark 1 (10:52)
1-15. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Sangre Viva, Op. 92 – II. Sueno (05:51)
1-16. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonatine – I. Allegro energico (03:48)
1-17. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonatine – II. Andantino (03:34)
1-18. Matilda Lloyd & John Reid – Trumpet Sonatine – III. Rondo. Allegro giocoso (02:39)