An American in Paris

Interpreters

Lucienne Renaudin Vary . Trumpet
Susanne von Gutzeit . Direction
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

Programme

Maurice Ravel
String Quartet in F major, Op. 35 (arr. for string orchestra)

George Gershwin
An American in Paris (selection)

Karol Beffa
Intrada for trumpet and strings

Ella Fitzgerald
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (arr. for trumpet and strings)

Arturo Marquez
Danzon 2 (arr. for trumpet and strings)

Jean Françaix
Symphony of Bows (1948)

That warm sound! Those rich tones! Can that really be a trumpet? Not since Chet Baker has this instrument been played with such freedom and such a relaxed style as Lucienne Renaudin Vary does. “The trumpet is my voice,” says the young Frenchwoman. And the secret of her distinctive sound may lie in the fact that she feels just as at home in jazz as she does in classical music. She also enjoys combining both styles on the concert stage.

In this Franco-American programme, she transports the audience to Paris for an evening – moving between jazz club and concert hall, between light-heartedness and intensity. Ravel’s string quartet, colourful and rhythmically precise, meets Karol Beffa’s Intrada – a piece written especially for Lucienne Renaudin Vary. It combines improvisational freedom with classical form. Beffa’s own versatility – he is a composer, pianist and intellectual – also resonates in the music.

Well-known songs such as ‘My Funny Valentine’ and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ take on a fresh new sound in these new arrangements for trumpet and strings. Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’ brings the pulse of the city to the concert hall. And Jean Françaix’s ‘Symphonie d’archets’ demonstrates just how light and precise music can be at the same time.

The Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, conducted by Susanne von Gutzeit, creates space for a programme that pushes the boundaries of the classical repertoire without becoming arbitrary. Music that not only describes Paris, but brings it to life.