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"This charming disc contains some of the most imaginative and polished trumpet playing you're ever likely to hear...Born-again authenticists may cavil at Balsom's vented trumpet, a modern development aiding intonation. But her flexible tuning, scrupulously focused to blend with the harmony, is a relief from the compromised tuning needed to play certain notes on true 18th-century instruments." - BBC Music Magazine "When the instrument is played as fluidly agreeably as it is here, nobody could doubt that it is the right tool for the job...And it all works. This is rattling good music, and so easily does the trumpet fit into it that often it is hard to recall what the original scorings were anyway. Balsom, too, sounds utterly at home...and [is] wonderfully backed by the English Concert and the bright natural musicianship of Trevor Pinnock." - Gramophone In the year of Queen Elizabeth II s Diamond Jubilee, Alison Balsom celebrates the heroic era of the Baroque trumpet in works by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and Henry Purcell (1658 or 1659-1695), whose anthems, odes, sinfonias and operas have provided the music for numerous royal celebrations from their own day to the present. Joining forces with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert orchestra that he founded, Balsom demonstrates the versatility and expressive power of her valve-less instrument in original works and new arrangements. These include Purcell's Sound the trumpet and Handel's Eternal Source of light divine in duet with countertenor Iestyn Davies and Purcell's The Plaint from The Fairy Queen in duet with soprano Lucy Crowe. Recently crowned Female Artist of the Year for the second time at the Classic BRITs, Alison Balsom has cemented an international reputation as one of classical music s great ambassadors and is ranked among the most distinctive and ground-breaking musicians on the international circuit today. Balsom has also been honored with numerous awards by Gramophone, Classic FM and ECHO Klassik.