Connaught Brass is a quintet of twenty-something players rapidly establishing an enviable reputation, and on the evidence of what I heard yesterday that reputation is fully deserved: they really are superbly good. A well-stuffed Milton Court spoke to their pulling power even in the face of terrible weather, and their easy stage manner and mostly successful repertoire choices made for an enjoyable evening hiding from the elements.
Although billed as a Christmas show, there was a minority of seasonal items, even if you stretch a point and include Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé. But there was a predominantly upbeat mood – Jeffrey Stone’s sprightly arrangement of a Vivaldi violin concerto, for example, which featured Aaron Akugbo on piccolo trumpet. Also in that vein was the second of two pieces by Lili Boulanger, a workout for trumpet and piano, dispatched effortlessly by Akugbo and Zeynep Özsuca.
At the other extreme, there were passages of reflection, such as the noble euphony of “Venus” from Holst’s The Planets, which worked very well for quintet and piano, and a stunning reworking of a mash-up of Nina Simone’s “Little Girl Blue” with “O come, o come Emanuel’ and “Good King Wenceslas”. Originally dreamed up by Sarah Latto for her Echo Vocal Ensemble, it was adapted here with permission and magical effect, Harry Plant’s flugelhorn solo meltingly gorgeous.
There were things that didn’t delight me quite so much. Terry Johns’ Paolozzi Windows was a slightly disjointed alternation of solo panels and tutti chorales, and two sombre Mark-Anthony Turnage solo piano pieces didn’t seem to fit the vibe, although sensitively played. And Sam Every’s arrangement of When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney, a solo spot for the stupendous tubist Aled Meredith-Barrett, would have been better at half the length and without the superfluous spoken voiceover.
But there were many more positives than otherwise. Robin Haigh’s Get Good, which opened the concert, was energetic, propulsive and completely compulsive. The lightning fast hocketing arpeggios at the beginning must be a beast to play but were completely spot on, the music then settling into a funky groove that was always the right side of obvious. The catch-you-out ending raised a smile, and Chris Brewster’s trombone playing shone. And the finale, the ending of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio arranged by Simon Hogg was a blast, Aaron Akugbo again soaring on his piccolo trumpet.
The Connaughts have a strong look onstage – black trousers, black shirts (untucked) and bright white Nike trainers – and clearly enjoy playing together. They took turns on the mic, their introductions charming if slightly baggy (Zoë Tweed’s excepted). But it’s their playing that really establishes their identity: technically astonishing, eclectic in repertoire, and prepared to explode cliches of what brass chamber music should sound like.
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