EMI’s most dazzling trumpet recital is arguably that by John Wallace (for the Virtuosi series, 11/94 – nla), one of Alison Balsom’s current mentors. It contained a graphically immediate account of Petr Eben’s Okna, inspired by Chagall’s windows, also the major work on this new disc, which can justly be claimed to exploit the fullest range of sonority and expressive possibility for this thrilling combination of trumpet with organ. Balsom has a true soloist’s flair with a firm and highly focused sound without a hint of forced tone. Her reading of the Eben is highly organised and contained, successfully revealing the mesmerising contrasts of the four coloured windows, without perhaps the same level of drama or rhetorical elan of Wallace or Guy Touvron (RCA, 9/93 – nla) respectively.

The arrangement of Sweelinck’s famous keyboard variations on the tune, ‘My young life hath an end’ (made by the talented organist here, Quentin Thomas) makes for a disarmingly attractive opening; one can see exactly why Balsom won the prize for the ‘most beautiful sound’ in the Maurice André International Competition in 2000 (and André knows about sound); this then takes her into the popular realm of the folk song, Shenandoah, in which her lyrical instincts are beguilingly realised on the flugelhorn.

This impressive recital also includes commanding performances of taxing French virtuoso repertoire, light work also being made of the Purcell music from King Arthur where she adeptly tunes her natural trumpet to the unforgiving partials of the organ. Balsom’s sound, throughout, is distinctive and generous – well caught in Paisley Abbey with the advantage of the superb organ, which perhaps would have benefited occasionally from a little more definition. This is certainly an auspicious start.