He was born in 1933, and for getting on for half a century – from roughly 1953 to his retirement in 2003 – he was both a discographic pioneer and an omnipresent figure on the record racks. Though he tended to be wary of too many modern works and commissions, his forte was the high trumpet, the four valve piccolo on which he launched a one-man blitzkrieg on the eighteenth century repertoire. The results of his Erato work are housed in these two box sets. There are some familiar old friends here, including some duplication of repertoire, adeptly and unproblematically transferred with brief but admiring booklet notes.

It’s appropriate that we begin the first box with the Haydn, brilliantly crisp, with a superb cadenza, and a lyrically sung slow movement, albeit with a rather mushy orchestral support. The finale is splendidly done – clean, clearly articulated, springy, but with a judiciously relaxed tempo. André could so often have gone to town in his finales but sheer technical brilliance never led him to cavalier showboating. His famed cantilena can be savoured in the Adagio opening of Leopold Mozart’s Concerto and his embouchure is rock solid in the Trumpet/Oboe concerto of Haydn. As so often he appropriated things originally written for oboe, or violin but this is never a hindrance, merely an example of his fervour for repertoire to propagate the baroque trumpet. The Mozart Concerto (again arranged from the Oboe Concerto) astonishes by virtue of its ease and grace and taste, though the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra under Frigyes Sándor provide only so-so support.

Disc two gives us the big acoustic accorded the Stölzel Concerto grosso. It’s too muddy, but the music is ceremonial and grand. The first Vivaldi piece essayed is an arrangement of a sonata for violin and continuo (Op.2 No.4, RV20). Of more immediate interest though is Albinoni’s Concerto, almost inevitably arranged from one for oboe. The opening is sprightly enough and worthy of note but the slow movement has such concentrated powers of expression that one listens amazed. In Vivaldi’s C major he joins with fellow trumpeter Marcel Lagorce and their imitative joust is a delight. Bach’s Concerto for violin and oboe is refashioned for trumpet and violin. It’s a bit heavy and lacks intimacy. A brave effort, but the use of a trumpet is too insistent.

It wasn’t easy to balance André with two oboists and a bassoonist in the Telemann Concerto for those forces but it worked out well. The piccolo trumpet is splendidly aloft here, but a more sizeable interpretative matter comes with Bach’s Suite with, once again, frequent collaborator Jean-François Paillard and his forces. He’s at his most persuasive in the masterful legato of the Sarabande. Other highlights in this third disc include the portentous Adagio in Hummel’s Introduction, Theme and Variations Op.102, as well as the cocksure succulence of the jaunty Allegretto: perfect sang froid in the aerobatics of the writing, and inhuman virtuosity in the Calando finale. He left behind multiple recordings of the same composer’s Concerto. His collaboration with Jean-Baptiste Mari and the forces of Orchestre de L’Association des Concerts Lamoureux may not be the first that comes to mind – but it’s a good one.

The fourth disc opens with a sequence of recordings that the trumpeter remembered as exceptional collaborations; the ASMIF and Neville Marriner. The Albinoni concerto that opens the fourth disc – a violin sonata originally, arranged by Jean Thilde – is a superb vehicle for André’s cantilena. It prefaces Tartini, Handel and Telemann Concertos. The first has Gallic wit, the Handel is appropriated from the oboe, and the Telemann has a characteristically noble profile. Telemann’s gravity was a particular source of nourishment for André, who invariably played his works with magnificent sensitivity. After this ASMIF we go to the routine accompaniment of the Wiener Solisten in Torelli – self-directed by the trumpeter, so maybe that had something to do with their lacklustre showing. In a different class the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra under Frigyes Sándor, this time much improved; violinist János Rolla inspires them in his Vivaldi meeting with André.

If you need concertos by Johann Wilhelm Hertel – and who knows, you might – you have four in the fifth disc. They’re all very congenial and were recorded ten years apart. Best of all are the peppy finale of the first E flat major, and the uneasy Largo of the D major. The harpsichord is very backwardly paced in the second E flat major. It’s good to hear Jörg Faerber and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra in Johann Fisher’s Concerto – inevitably originally written for oboe. What a characterful band that was, and how warmly textured in the Adagio. An all-star line up graces Paillard’s excellent recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto; Jarry, Rampal and Pierlot.

The final disc in the first volume brings us more ceremonial Telemann, and the dazzling playing in Loellet’s (Flute) Concerto. This last was one of a series edited by the conductor of the recordings, Géry Lemaire. Graupner’s Concerto, with its vivace opening, hits the most spots. Telemann’s Viola Concerto masterpiece is here in Trumpet guise. It sounds very bright indeed but survives somewhat better than did the Bach Violin and Oboe Concerto. As an envoi pour a glass of whisky and listen open mouthed to André’s fastest-embouchure-in-the-West cadenza in the first movement of Neruda’s Concerto.

These exhaustive boxes are never exhausting. They serve as an index of the trumpeter’s fabulous chops, but also his sense of fantasy and imagination, his concern for colour, and his spurning of velocity and virtuosity for their own sakes. A master class, still, in many ways.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

Complete Tracklist:
Albinoni:
Concerto in B flat major for trumpet, strings and continuo
arr. Jean Thilde, from Sonata in A major for violin and continuo, op.6 no.11 Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Concerto in D major for trumpet, strings and continuo arr. from Concerto in D major for oboe, strings and continuo, op.7 no.6
Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra, Karl Ristenpart
Concerto in B flat major for trumpet, strings and continuo arr. from Concerto in B flat major for oboe, strings and continuo, op.7 no.3
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Bach, J S:
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV1047
with Gérard Jarry (violin), Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute) & Pierre Pierlot (oboe) Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Suite in B minor for trumpet, strings and continuo arr. from Suite in B minor for flute, strings and continuo, BWV 1067
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Concerto in D minor for violin, trumpet, strings and continuo arr. from Concerto in C minor for violin, oboe, strings and continuo, BWV 1060R
with Huguette Fernandez (violin) Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Fesch:
Concerto in C major for trumpet, strings and continuo
ed. Géry Lemaire Les Solistes de Liège, Géry Lemaire
Fischer, J C:
Concerto in C major for trumpet and strings
arr. & ed. Adam Carse, from Concerto in C major for oboe and strings
Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Jörg Faerber
Graupner:
Concerto in G major for trumpet, strings and continuo
ed. Géry Lemaire Les Solistes de Liège, Géry Lemaire
Handel:
Trumpet Concerto in G minor (trans. from Oboe Concerto No. 3, HWV 287)
arr. from Concerto in G minor for oboe, strings and continuo, HWV 287
Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Haydn:
Trumpet Concerto in C major
(attrib. Joseph Haydn - arr. from Oboe Concerto in C major, Hob.VIIg:C1)
Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, Hob. VIIe:1
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Theodor Guschlbauer
Hertel, J W:
Concerto a sei for Trumpet, Oboe & Strings in E flat major
with Pierre Pierlot (oboe) Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in E flat
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Trumpet Concerto No. 2 in E flat
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Trumpet Concerto No. 3 in D
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Hummel, J:
Introduction, Theme and Variations in F minor Op. 102
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Trumpet Concerto in E (or E flat) major
arr. & ed. Peter Willemoës Orchestre de L’Association des Concerts Lamoureux, Jean-Baptiste Mari
Loeillet, Jacques:
Concerto in D major for trumpet, strings and continuo
arr. from Concerto in D major for flute, strings and continuo, ed. Géry Lemaire
Les Solistes de Liège, Géry Lemaire
Mozart:
Trumpet Concerto in C major
arr. from Oboe Concerto, K314
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Frigyes Sándor
Mozart, L:
Trumpet Concerto in D major Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Neruda, J B G:
Trumpet Concerto in E flat major
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Jean-Pierre Wallez
Stölzel:
Trumpet Concerto in D
Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra, Karl Ristenpart Concerto grosso a quattro chori in D major
with Bernard Gabel, Guy Touvron, Bernard Soustrot, Mineo Sugiki, Pierre Schweitzer (trumpets), Maxence Larrieu (flute), Pierre Pierlot (oboe) & Paul Hongne (bassoon) Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Philippe Caillard
Tartini:
Concerto in D major for trumpet, strings and continuo
arr. Jean Thilde, from Concerto in E major for violin, strings and continuo, D53
Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Telemann:
Concerto in E flat major for trumpet, strings and continuo
arr. from Concerto in G major for viola, strings and continuo, ed. Géry Lemaire
Les Solistes de Liège, Géry Lemaire
Concerto in D major for three trumpets, two oboes, strings and continuo
with Guy Touvron, Lionel André (trumpets), Daniel Arrignon, Jean-Philippe Chavana (oboes) & Joël Pontet (harpsichord) Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Jean-Pierre Wallez
Concerto-Sonata in D major for Trumpet, Strings and Harpsichord
edition and cadenzas by Fernand Oubradous Wiener Solisten
Trumpet Concerto in D major
Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Concerto for 2 Oboes, Trumpet and Strings No. 2 in D major
with Pierre Pierlot, Jacques Chambon (oboes) Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra, Karl Ristenpart
Concerto for 2 Oboes, Trumpet and Strings No. 1 in D major
with Pierre Pierlot, Jacques Chambon (oboes) & Paul Hongne (bassoon) Jean-François Paillard
Torelli:
Sonata in D for Trumpet, strings & continuo
ed. Fernand Oubradous Wiener Solisten
Vivaldi:
Concerto for Trumpet, Violin and Strings in B flat major, RV548
arr. from Concerto in B flat major for violin, oboe, strings and continuo, RV 548
with János Rolla (violin) Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Frigyes Sándor
Concerto for 2 Trumpets, Strings & Continuo in C major, RV 537
with Marcel Lagorce (trumpet) Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard Trumpet Concerto in A flat major
Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard