3BA Concert Band
Conductor: Corsin Tuor
Soloists: Benedikt Geirhos, Jerome Muller, Benedikt Seidl, Tim Steinberg, Thomas Obeleitner
Lucerne Music Edition: CD LME100
In under 20 years, 3BA Concert Band has risen from the challenge of establishing itself in the musical landscape of southern Germany to becoming an elite level contender at the European Championships.
It has been a metamorphosis built on talent and a confident rigour that readily embraces the best of old and new repertoire (and as shown here, occasionally odd) – first under MD Franz Matysiak and latterly with Swiss conductor Corsin Tuor.
Forensically engineered
This forensically engineered studio recording further enhances their reputation. And whilst it sounds at times as if the mastering has gained an upper hand, the inherent musical quality, and the stylish way in which it is delivered still holds overall sway.
Throughout, Corsin Tuor directs with considered reserve on an eclectic mix – from Richard Strauss to Harry James, Japan to Ireland, originality to pastiche. The ensemble hallmarks each of the tracks with a lean symphonic sound, balanced and cultured in tonality as well as dynamic relevance – shown with ornate, elegant ease in the opening ‘Du Rhone au Rhin’.
The ensemble hallmarks each of the tracks with a lean symphonic sound, balanced and cultured in tonality as well as dynamic relevance
The soloists (as are all the leads) are excellent: Thomas Oberleitner perfectly mimics Harry James on a stop off in a Swiss Alp village; Benedikt Geirhos takes in the mountain views on a trombone motorbike injected by catchy 1970s melody fuel. Tim Steinberg is all beer and landler folksy xylophone fun. The euph duo of Jerome Muller and Benedikt Seidl play off each other with rhythmic Japanese bounce and brio.
Suave wit
There is a suave wit to Stephan Hodel’s ‘The Builders Blues’ - laidback tradesmen more inclined to soft jazz and perky swing than pastel paint finishes and pristine plumbing, whilst Tuor’s own ‘Poa Alpina’ is a curio anniversary march that has a distinctive, if subconscious nod of ‘Honest Toil’ to it. ‘Il grond silenzi’ is a tender reflection – like a distant mountain top gaze, majestic and magical.
The band reveals it true musical DNA though in a sumptuous rendition of ‘Festmusik der Stadt Wien’ – dignified, controlled and cultured from start to finish
‘Frie wie dr Summerwind’, from a darkly comedic musical about a legendary cleft-lipped Bern hairdresser driven to suicide is as touching as it is strange, and stands in contrast to the power funk groove of ‘Japanese Quince’ and the rather more stereotypically plastic Irish-airport bar ‘Erin Feathers’.
Sumptuous
The band reveals it true musical DNA though in a sumptuous rendition of ‘Festmusik der Stadt Wien’ – dignified, controlled and cultured from start to finish. It is repeated on the title track.
It is an equally enticing glimpse into the ‘modus operandi’ of both the composer and the band itself – clever, unexpected episodic structuring of discipline and rigour, balanced by meditative longueurs and curiosity driven explorations.
Iwan Fox
To purchase:
CD: https://www.worldofbrass.com/modus-operandi-cd
Play list:
1. Du Rhone au Rhin (Frank Martin arr. Corsin Tuor)
2. Festmusik der Stadt Wien (Richard Strauss arr. Michael Antrobus)
3. Poa Alpina (Corsin Tuor)
4. Il grond silenzi (Flavio Bundi arr. Corsin Tuor)
5. A Trip to the Mountains (Gion Andrea Casanova arr. Corsin Tuor)
Soloist: Benedikt Geirhose (trombone)
6. Modus Operandi (Stephan Hodel)
7. Futaba (Hitoshi Takahshi)
Soloists: Jerome Muller and Benedikt Seidl (euphonium)
8. Frei wie dr Summewind (Moritz Scneider/Robin Hoffmann arr. Corsin Tuor)
9. Mosch (Markus Fluckiger arr. Corsin Tuor)
Soloist: Tim Steinberg (xylophone)
10. The Builders Blues (Stehan Hodel)
11. Es Burebuebli goes strange (trad/Harry James arr. Corsin Tuor)
Soloist: Thomas Oberleitner
12. Japanese Quince (Hitoshi Takahashi)
13. Erin Feathers (trad. arr. Dan Ashcroft)
