Romain Leleu & Julien Gernay - Folies Parisiennes

This marvelous little 2024 release is ostensibly a showcase for some of the historical trumpets, and a piano, at the Musée de la musique at the Philharmonie de Paris concert hall. Certainly, it's a must for brass players interested in older trumpets, and trumpeter Romain Leleu effectively differentiates the instruments involved. The Three Preludes of George Gershwin are especially effective in this regard; they do not lie easily under a trumpeter's fingers in the classic French way, and the slow-movement blues is quite gutsy.

The inclusion of Gershwin points up another unique aspect of the album, namely its unusually wide swath of repertory. Gershwin is an unusual choice for a Folies parisiennes album celebrating the vibrancy of the City of Light; his Parisian sojourn is approached often enough from an American perspective, but a French one is also worthwhile. Leleu brings Gershwin back for an encore at the end, with a beautiful arrangement of Someone to Watch Over Me; this segues with great subtlety into the finale, the Gymnopédie No. 1 of Satie. Along the way are recital pieces by Jean-Baptiste Arban and Marcel Bitsch that are surely known to French brass players but not so much to others, as well as showpieces for trumpet by Honegger, Ibert, Fauré, and Enescu, and an utterly delightful early Sonata for horn, trumpet, and trombone by Poulenc that's worth the price of admission by itself. The program all coalesces effortlessly into the lighthearted concept suggested by the album's title, and it thoroughly transcends its specialist origins. AllMusicGuide