The recording, which will be released by Aparté, will feature the incredible singing of the mezzo soloist Marina Viotti - our very own Pauline Viardot. She was absolutely brilliant, and this promises to be a wonderful disc. Les Talens Lyriques was conducted by Christophe Rousset. The orchestra retained its exciting, characterful and hallmark sound under his direction despite using more modern instruments. Christophe Rousset is an excellent musician to work for and his approach to recording is musically exciting and very well refined.

We rehearsed from 23rd to 25th November 2021, and the recording was made between 27th and 30th of November 2021 in the Lully Conservatoire in Puteaux. This was a fantastic project to be involved with. As it was so special that each player had brought a suitable instrument - often original instruments rather than replicas - I decided to make my very own Portrait of the Brass Section:

Portrait de Pauline Viardot - Portrait des Cuivres:

Trumpet Section:

Front Row: (L-R): Russell Gilmour & William Russell
Back Row (L-R): Gareth Hoddinott & Sam Kinrade

RG - Natural trumpet - in E-flat, C, B-flat and A - Francis Tomes - London - (replica after Ehe III, 1746)
RG - Valved B-flat & A trumpet - Hawkes & Son (c.1890) - ‘Excelsior Sonorous Class’
RG - Cornet à pistons - Pask & Kœnig - London (c.1849-1851) ‘441 West Strand London’

WR - Natural trumpet - in E-flat, C, B-flat and A - David Staff - (replica after Ehe III, 1746)
WR - Valved F trumpet - Mahillon & Co - Brussels (after 1878)
WR - Cornet à pistons - Wallis & Son - London (1884-1891)

GH - Natural trumpet - in E-flat, C and B-flat - David Staff - (replica after Ehe III, 1746)

SK - Natural trumpet - in E-flat, C and B-flat - David Staff - (replica after Ehe III, 1746)

Will brought 5 instruments with him, I brought 4 trumpets, Gareth brought 2 and Sam brought 1; a total of 12 instruments, with many more crooks and bows. The track that featured the trumpet section ‘firing on all cylinders’ was Gaetano Donizetti’s (1797-1848) Overture from La Favorite (1840). 

Will and I are made this little video about two of the instruments we used:



Just a few days before I was due to leave the UK for Paris, I bought an instrument (from c.1890) that turned out to be perfect for this repertoire. The instrument is a Hawkes & Son trumpet in B-flat and A, with three piston valves and some original fake tubing so that the instrument imitates the design of the orchestral valved F trumpet without adding to the sounding length of the trumpet. Will Russell played on a Mahillon F trumpet, the type of instrument that my trumpet was designed to emulate. We also both played natural trumpets in E-flat, C, low B-flat and low A.

In Berlioz’s Les Troyens (1863) myself and Will played the cornet à pistons parts. I used his Pask & Kœnig cornet (c.1849-1851) and he used his Wallis & Son cornet (1884-91). Gareth Hoddinott and Sam Kinrade played the two natural trumpet parts. We stayed in a similar formation for Donizetti’s Overture from La Favorite (1840) with myself and Will playing the piston trumpet parts (on the Hawkes & Son B-flat, and the Mahillon valved F trumpet, and Gareth and Sam played the natural trumpet parts (in C and E-flat).

Horn Section:

Front Row (R-L): Jeroen Billiet & Yannick Maillet
Back Row (R-L): Gilbert Cami Farràs & Camille Lebrequier

JB - Natural horn: Courtois Frère - Paris (1825)
JB - Cor à pistons: F. Van Cauwelaert - Bruxelles (1898) - ‘Lejeune’

YM - Natural horn: Anonymous - French (1830)
YM - Cor à pistons: Raoux Millereau - French (1880)

GCF - Natural horn: Dubois & Couturier - French (c.1820)
GCF - Cor à pistons: Besson (c.1900)

CL - Natural horn: Replica
CL - Cor à pistons: Unknown

The horn section did a fantastic job, with numerous solos, duets and quartets to play in the programme. Listen out for the horn quartet feature in Rossini’s Gioacchino Rossini’s (1792-1868) Overture to Semiramide (1823).

Trombone & Ophicleide Section:



(L-R): Claire McIntyre, Aurélie Serre, Bart Vroomen & Marc Girardot

Trombone I (Tenor) - Courtouis (after 1911, before 1927)
Trombone II (Tenor) - Couesnon & Companie (1921)
Trombone III (Tenor) - Robert Martin - Mâcon (c.1920)
Ophicleide in C with 9 keys - Couturier - Lyon - (1830-40)

Although their most lively contribution was arguably also in the aforementioned Overtures from Semiramide and La Favorite, the trombones and ophicleide also featured in the incredibly despairing Ô ma lyre immortelle from Charles-François Gounod’s (1818-1893) Sapho (1851). There was such quiet playing in this recording session that many of us did not dare to blink, in case it made a noise. This track promises to be highlight.

I wasn’t the only player in the brass section to have found an instrument specially for this recording. Our second trombone player apparently found the instrument she used on top of a cupboard in a place where she works – what luck!

It was so satisfying to play this programme, with these people, on these instruments with Les Talens Lyriques. Thank you to Christophe Rousset and all of his team who made it happen – an absolutely enormous amount of work has gone into this project, especially from the music librarian Claire Fonvieille. I am so looking forward to hearing the completed disc. Bravo to Marina Viotti – our very own Pauline Viardot.