Eleven years after he last linked up with conductor Luc Vertommen and Brass Band Buizingen, Steven Mead returned to the recording studio in 2016 for this thoughtful release.
 
Lyricism in brass playing is in danger of becoming an eroded art: The pursuit of ever more audacious technical brilliance has made it an increasingly difficult musical language to understand as well as master.

Polyglot

However, both elements can still be combined, and here the soloist states his case for appreciation with a cultured sense of authority. Mead is one of the last true polyglots.

The ten tracks are a series of mature performances of eclectic inspiration - from the bullish Iberian swagger of Bandman’s ‘La Corrida de Toros’ to the poetic resignation of Mahler’s ‘Ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen’.  In between we touch on elements of reflection as well as celebration, lasting delicacy to bluesy ephemera.

Expertly realised

The virtuosity on display is skilled and artistic; the lyricism imaginative and beautiful (essential characteristics he himself identifies in his perceptive sleeve notes). The performances are enhanced by equally considered accompaniment (including the use of a harp) and subtly coloured arrangements, expertly realised by Luc Vertommen.

Same coin

The centre-pieces are balanced counterpoints: Golland’s darkly hued ‘Concerto’ is a work of personal complexities hidden in plain view; layers of seeming transparency that still obscure a central core of troubled emotions.  In contrast, Proto’s fantasy on the famous ‘24th Caprice’ by Paganini lays all bare - sumptuous, rich, extrovert.  

They are still two sides of the same musical coin though. And it is a currency that Steven Mead shows throughout is still worth its weight in gold. 

Iwan Fox

Available from: 
http://www.euphoniumstore.net/cds/steven-mead-cds/product=cd-lyrical-virtuoso-steven-mead-and-brassband-buizingen-cond-luc-vertommen

1. La Corrida de Toros (David Bandman/Luc Vertommen)
2. Serenade Napolitaine (Ruggero Leoncavallo/Vertommen)
3. Euphonium Concerto No.1 (John Golland)
4. The Auld Noost (Ronald Jamieson/Anthony Swainson)
5. Capriccio di Niccolo (Frank Proto/Luc Vertommen)
6. Michelangelo (Sigvart Dagsland/Frode Rydland)
7. Mayfly Blues (Stan Nieuwenhuis)
8. In Gardens of Peace (Philip Harper)
9. Rondo-La Campanella from Violin Concerto No. 2 (Niccolo Paganini/Luc Vertommen)
10. Ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen (I Am Lost To The World) (Gustav Mahler/Luc Vertommen)