''Having already established himself as a remarkable trumpet virtuoso in his teens – a rare and extraordinary feat given the physical demands of the instrument – Sergei Nakariakov turns his attention to a recital largely made up of baroque reworkings. His recordings up to now have featured distinctive performances of well-worn transcriptions such as Rhapsody in Blue (Teldec, 5/93) and Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy (Teldec, 6/95) but these five concertos in particular attract the inevitable comparison with Maurice Andre, the doyen of trumpeters who ‘translated’ baroque repertory from all quarters and made it his own. Andre’s influence hovers over many of the subsequent generation (even the cooler Hardenburger and the harder Marsalis) though it is less evident with Nakariakov. Whether this is a good thing or not comes down to taste; Andre’s sound is still unrivalled, though he did not always have the imagination that the young Russian shows on occasion, especially in the Vivaldi B flat and the Telemann F minor Concertos (a pleasing alternative from the original oboe), both of which the great Frenchman recorded.Where such a comparison is cruel is in matters of tone and this is where Nakariakov, performing on the smallest piccolo trumpet (in B flat), cannot match Andre in rounded beauty or vocalized elegance. Nakariakov certainly demonstrates such qualities in abundance in his full, rich-sounding ‘big’ trumpet works of the nineteenth and twentieth century but essentially the baroque concerto is not yet a genre which shows this fine young artist at his best. He seems unsure about articulation and the smaller instrument, if lying beautifully under the fingers (as in the finale of the Marcello work), is not accompanied by an easy rapport with the style. However absurd, the Agnus Dei from Bach’s Mass in B minor is beautifully shaped on the flugel horn and this is where the Russian heart is given the fullest reign. The sense of release is palpable.''' Gramophone