Video of the Day: Alison Balsom plays Bernstein’s 'Lonely Town'
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Performance taken from the trumpeter's forthcoming album, Quiet City
In our next issue we're talking to trumpeter Alison Balsom about her new album 'Quiet City', a beautiful and poignant exploration of American music of the 20th century, composed in the era of the explosion of jazz, and featuring music by Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin, Ives, and from the iconic collaboration between Miles Davis and Gil Evans.
A single from the album is now available, a newly edited version of Bernstein’s 'Lonely Town' from the ballet sequence of the composer's 1944 musical On the Town, which depicts a visitor’s bewilderment and loneliness despite being in the crowds of New York City. Alison Balsom has also recorded a wonderful video of the performance, which you can watch here:
'Quiet City' is released on Warner Classics on August 26. You can read more about it by clicking the story below, as well as listen to an earlier podcast with Alison Balsom.