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Aaron Azunda Akugbo, Joanna MacGregor
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Frances Marshall |
Aaron Azunda Akugbo (trumpet)
7.30pm, Saturday 24 January 2026
★★★
The Draughtsman's Contract for Orchestra
Once again Joanna MacGregor delivered an interesting programme for the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s latest outing, as they move into the second half of their season. A very contemporary trumpet concerto by the fabulous jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis was coupled with two of Michael Nyman’s iconic film scores from the late twentieth century, repertoire that clearly sparked interest, with Brighton Dome very nearly full.
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Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Joanna MacGregor
© Frances Marshall |
Marsalis’ Concerto for Trumpet was written for trumpeter Michaeal Sachs, who premiered the work with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2023. Across its six short movements, it covers a wide variety of styles, almost serving as a brief history of the instrument, across classical and jazz genres alike. Inevitably, this means it is a bit of an eclectic mix, and nothing stays still for very long, even within each movement. This creates a huge challenge for soloist and orchestra alike, not least because many of the short episodes within have many complex rhythms and balance issues to be grappled with along the way. Edinburgh-born trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo traversed the many styles and demands with style, warming into the appreciative atmosphere in the Brighton Dome as his confidence grew. The orchestra on the whole successfully navigated the rhythms and the individual episodes thrown at them by Marsalis, but one felt that there wasn’t quite enough breathing space for them to see how this all fitted together. To be fair, Marsalis does take things at breakneck speed, so there is seldom chance for any element to establish itself before the next idea comes along. Balance was also occasionally an issue – a focus on ‘getting it right’ perhaps didn’t allow for time to listen, and in the opening March, the heavy use of percussion and lower brass was in danger of drowning out the soloist. However, there was some great cartoon scurrying from the strings, along with comic muted trombones here. The second movement, Ballad, allowed Azunda Akugbo to show off a more lyrical style, with a gently bouncing swing in the orchestra, and a delicate duet exchange between the soloist and the oboe. In contrast, Mexican Son had more virtuosic show from Azunda Akugbo, with mostly tight ensemble from the orchestra in the dancing rhythms. At the end, the strange whooping sounds from held horn and woodwind notes that accompanied the soloist weren’t entirely convincingly confident, but the woodwind solos in the following Blues movement were more assured. Here Azunda Akugbo showed off the differing effects of not one but four different mutes, including the most bluesy of all, a felt hat. The French Pastoral was full of twisting, winding lines, before Harlequin Two-Step brought the work to a spirited conclusion. The energetic opening section did get a little wild at one point, on the brink of coming adrift, but then settled into a quieter, smoother section, allowing for more expressive playing. And just when we thought it had ended, wild whistling and crazy noises in the coda led back to a final elephant call from the soloist, as the work had begun. All in all, a great showcase for the talented Azunda Akugbo, and the orchestra largely pulled off their contribution, but I’m not sure they managed to convey an overall coherency in this highly challenging, episodic work.
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Joanna MacGregor & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston |
Two of Michael Nyman’s scores for Peter Greenaway films filled the second half of the evening’s programme, starting with the Prospero’s Books Suite. MacGregor and the BPO seemed on safter ground here, although as MacGregor said in her introduction, this music is still challenging to perform, just in a different way. The first movement, Prospero’s Magiclaunches in straight away with Nyman’s signature pulsing repetitive figuration in the strings, and the BPO bassoons throbbed away beneath the slower moving woodwind and brass chords. MacGregor shaped the slow build, and the violins soared above the texture when they shifted away from their perpetual motion role. The quirkier Prospero’s Curse had mostly tight rhythms here, triplets against fours mostly locked in, although it felt like MacGregor allowed the overall momentum to lapse a little here. Glassy, shimmering strings dominated in Cornfield, the soft trumpet emerging slowly. Miranda, the final movement, had good drive, with pecking woodwind, although the clarinet raced ahead rather at one point, risking a loss of ensemble, and the various changes in tempo felt a little insecure initially. However, the final drive to the finish had the necessary energy to pull it all back together.
The Draughtsman’s Contract for Orchestra, Nyman’s suite from his score for the Greenaway film, contains some of his most familiar music, the final movement in particular, and Nyman draws much of the musical content from Purcell, in particular in his use of the ground bass. Its opening movement, A Watery Death, starts with emphatic low chords, before the violins scream in, and the BPO gave this their all, with some deft work from the brass section. The ground that forms the bases of The Garden is Becoming a Robe Room set off with some rushing and disagreement between the bassoons and double basses, but settled, with more fluid lines from the violins calming the texture. An Eye for Optical Theory moves into jazzier, swinging rhythms, and MacGregor gave these a nice swing. And then the finale, Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds. The processional opening, with hammering piano had real drive, and the violins’ triplets against the prevailing fours were tight. The Black Beauty-esque section galloped along, followed by sparky exchanges between the woodwinds and brass, and MacGregor led them to a strong finish, with some of the most confident and assured playing of the evening from the orchestra.
And so again, MacGregor and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra showed us their enthusiasm for tackling challenging repertoire. On the night, the Nyman proved more assured than the Marsalis, but hats off to them for bringing us this striking work, especially along with the highly talented Aaron Azunda Akugbo.
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