As Allen Vizzutti walks through the music departments of many colleges, he can hear students diligently practicing from the method books he wrote. These books, the basis of a music student’s practice repertoire, are challenging trumpet students to new levels of technique and musicality and are rapidly replacing the method books written by Arban, according to Donald Schleicher, conductor and musical director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra.

After learning trumpet from his father in the sticks in Montana, Vizzutti earned bachelor and master degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Since then, he has traveled with the Woody Herman Band, performed music for movie and television soundtracks, and made appearances worldwide. In addition to his eclectic background, Vizzutti has written more than 100 compositions, as well as his challenging method books.

On November 2, Vizzutti’s travels led him to Centennial Hall, where he joined the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, presenting a concert called “Brilliant Brass” to an enthusiastic audience.

The Quad City Symphony exhibited the talent of its brass section during the first half of the concert, beginning with Giuseppe Verdi’s Overture to La Forza del destino. According to Schleicher, the piece was written to summon audiences to the opera from the lobby or the popular pasta restaurant across the street. The overture’s strong brass statements interspersed with haunting string melodies engaged the audience and gave a fitting beginning for the afternoon’s musical selections.

Symphony No. 1 by 20th Century Romantic composer Samuel Barber followed. Repeated staccato lines appeared throughout the first section of the piece, followed by soaring solos from the oboe and clarinet. The piece ends by revisiting themes from all three sections and closes triumphantly. The Quad City Symphony’s interpretation definitely achieved emotional response; I was able to become involved in the piece, feeling the swells of the music during slow passages and the animation of the rapid passages.

After the intermission, the audience once again was called to attention, this time with Antonio Vivaldi’s concerto for two trumpets. Vizzutti made his first appearance of the concert to share the spotlight with David Greenhoe, first trumpet with the Quad City Symphony. The two worked well together, blending and contrasting styles, tones, and instrument sounds for a pleasing rendition of the familiar favorite.

Next Vizzutti showed his skill by soloing in a piece he composed, Emerald Concerto for trumpet and orchestra. Written in 1990 to display Vizzutti’s highly developed skill, the concerto is meant to evoke images of Seattle, Vizzutti’s hometown. As the piece opened with smooth, rich instrumentation, I readily envisioned the sun rising over a city. The movement rapidly intensified in tempo, ending “fast, with fire,” as it is aptly named in the program. The next movement demonstrated Vizzutti’s tone control. Purposefully challenging the classical trumpet’s range, Vizzutti’s performance demonstrated his ability to work the trumpet in multiple octaves, from piercing, clear high notes to the fuzzy growl of low notes. During the final movement of the piece, Vizzutti performed a cadenza, a solo without accompaniment, filled with fluttering, amazingly quick scales, arpeggios, and melodies. After the cadenza trumpeted to an end and the orchestra rejoined Vizzutti, murmurings of appreciation passed through the crowd, and only concert etiquette kept the audience from clapping aloud.

The orchestra next performed Jean Baptiste Arban’s The Carnival of Venice, a march-like theme and variations. Vizzutti’s solo meandered in and out of the melody line of the theme and variations, and the music’s swell carried the piece to its almost abrupt conclusion. The audience would not let the concert end, applauding until Vizzutti returned for a solo encore.

This was the first Quad City Symphony concert I have attended, and I was duly impressed by the musicians’ ability to tackle difficult pieces with musical sensitivity and precision. Welcoming a performer of Vizzutti’s caliber indicates the quality of orchestra we have in the Quad Cities. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert; but during some of the technical passages, Vizzutti’s showmanship overwhelmed the music.

Overall, though, his sensitivity to balance and the program Schleicher put together allowed for a mix of emotionally stimulating passages and impressive technique, which kept the concert moving and enjoyable.

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