The Warner Classics label has shown a preference for photogenic teenage artists. There's nothing wrong with this -- it demonstrates the continuing vitality of the classical repertory -- but it's nice when the youngsters have something to offer besides steely virtuosity. That is the case with this release by 18-year-old French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary. She's a student at the Paris Conservatory in both classical and jazz, and she says, "My debut album shows different sides of the music I love, from Baroque to jazz ...
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The Warner Classics label has shown a preference for photogenic teenage artists. There's nothing wrong with this -- it demonstrates the continuing vitality of the classical repertory -- but it's nice when the youngsters have something to offer besides steely virtuosity. That is the case with this release by 18-year-old French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary. She's a student at the Paris Conservatory in both classical and jazz, and she says, "My debut album shows different sides of the music I love, from Baroque to jazz with excursions into musicals and opera." The jazz is slightly light; it consists of Broadway tunes given a lightly improvisatory treatment. The good news is that the program is plenty diverse. You might possibly find young trumpeters with a pearlier tone than Vary, but for keeping a varied program together and moving, she's unmatched. She plays trumpet pieces, she plays operatic melodies and popular songs on the trumpet, she plays opera arias with prominent trumpet parts and features...
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