In the News
James Inverne, editor, Gramophone
Tomorrow's classical superstars
Gramophone critics and the current greats hail the classical superstars of the future
Every so often there's an indefinable feeling in the music world. A great sense of a shift, of new talents starting to realise their potential. This is one such moment.
This is all deeply exciting and heartening for the future (as Vengerov and Rostropovich have shown - in their better recordings - new bloods can not only learn from the old masters, they can sometimes revitalise them). But with emerging reputations dependent on so many factors, not least marketing hype (if greatness were only dependent on advertising spend, we'd all be hailing the limp-voiced English crossover tenor Russell Watson), we decided to identify and celebrate those musicians we feel have the combination of artistry and staying-power to go down in history. So a panel of our critics put forward their nominations, from which we drew up a list of 20.
Fame and greatness are two different things, and both can be nebulous. In drawing up our criteria for the list, we decided on a combination of both - those artists who possess the talent to be great, and are in a position to make it count. Most will already be known to our readers, but within five years we feel they will all be household names (some newish performers are already too famous for the list - Lang Lang, for instance, is already a piano superstar in China and America). Not all, indeed, are especially young, but are only now blossoming into their full interpretative powers.
The next Brendel? The new Barenboim? Every musician is unique, so we have avoided the usual lazy labels. But we are grateful - and impressed - that the real Brendel, the actual Barenboim and so many other greats of their rank have written pieces championing their favourite superstars of tomorrow. They are being gracious, and giving the lie to any stereotype of performers as bitchy and self-interested. However, to us their participation demonstrates one crucial fact. They still, after all these years, care about music and the future of their art. Adding, in a burst of enthusiasm, to his praise for Jonathan Lemalu, Sir Thomas Allen wrote, 'The future is safe with this exciting new generation'. So let's enjoy this moment, cheer these wonderful artists, and rub our hands with delight at what is to come.
Wallace's choice
Alison Balsom - Trumpet - Age 27 - Born Britain
What you should know
Alison Balsom trained with Håkan Hardenberger and John
Wallace. A concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition in 1998,
she received the Feeling Musique Prize for quality of sound in the Fourth
Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, and is a visiting professor at the
Guildhall. A panel of Gramophone critics voted her best Young British
Performer at this year's Classical Brit Awards.
What you should hear
Bach - Works for Trumpet (EMI)
John Wallace writes
"What singles out Alison from her generation is her completeness as a performer. She has everything - natural ability, a technique to die for, a steely determination to succeed and the capacity to draw the sweetest sounds out of the trumpet to soothe even the most savage beast. She is rare among her contemporaries for her concept of the classical trumpet as an art music instrument. In that way, she slips easily into the mantle of the inheritance of the great classical British players - Philip Jones, Ernest Hall, John Solomon - and like all great players she brings her own unique sound, style and vision to take the very special British tradition forward."