Mnozil Brass

King Henry VIII School
Coventry
Sunday 4th July

Although speaking from the potentially biased point of view of someone that has spent a good number of years living in the city, it’s not unreasonable to say that Coventry gets more than its fair share of stick from the media.

Mediocrity

Whether it be it’s proud, yet now all but decimated, industrial heritage, the concrete monstrosity of a city centre that for all its undeniable ugliness rose phoenix like from the ashes of the blitz, or the beleaguered fortunes of Coventry City FC, a club who’s history of mediocrity is punctuated with one moment of FA Cup glory in 1987.

There are those that are always quick to throw a few stones at a city that doesn’t entirely deserve its reputation.

Saying that though, Coventry is still listed in that tome of shame ‘Crap Towns - The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK’; a claim to fame for all the wrong reasons.

Underbelly

Yet for all the mockery there exists a strong and proud culture of brass playing in the city, despite the loss of several bands in the last twenty years or so - most notably the demise of the 1980 British Open winners, City of Coventry.   

The evidence of that latent brass underbelly was there for all to see on the 4th July when Coventry played host to two highly significant, yet vastly differing musical events.

At the War Memorial Park the Godiva Festival was in full swing with rock bands such as Ash and The Primitives entertaining crowds of thousands.

Intelligentsia

Meanwhile, just half a mile down the road, the more informed amongst the Midland musical intelligentsia had got wind that those Austrian masters of virtuosic brass comedy, Mnozil Brass, were making one of their all too rare trips to the UK.

The visit was the brainchild of trombone and trumpet playing husband and wife team Mark and Lesley Howarth, the inspiration coming from a conversation in a pub following a Mnozil performance in Uppermill a couple of years ago.

From dream to realisation are two very different things though, and it is to the immense credit of both that with sheer determination, tenacity and not a little financial risk, that initial dream was ultimately pulled off in spectacularly successful fashion.

Treat

Hence it was a wildly enthusiastic capacity audience that greeted Mnozil as the ensemble took to the stage for its only concert during a fleeting UK visit.

Undoubtedly there were some in the audience that had seen the group’s ‘Magic Moments’ show before, but for those that hadn’t, it was a treat that will linger in the memory for a long time indeed.

In many ways it is difficult to know where to start when writing a review, such is the staggering talent of the seven guys on stage.

Sound

The first thing that hits home is the incredible sound.

Like the side of the Musikverein itself, it quite simply knocks your socks off.  In fact, the marvel is that there are just seven players producing it.

Whether it be the screaming trumpet antics of Thomas Gansch, the staggering register of Zoltan Kiss on trombone or the colossal Wilfried Brandstotter on tuba, the collective Mnozil aural experience is a force of musical nature.

The virtuosity of course goes without saying, but that virtuosity is allied to a cleverly honed sense of imagination that makes Mnozil what they are - totally unique.

Eccentricity

Visually, even the way the group dresses sets the scene.

With Wilfried Brandstotter, Thomas Gansch and Zoltan Kiss looking like apprentice versions of comedian Harry Hill, complete with an array of lapel badges (they haven’t yet moved on to the large white shirt collars), the suave Roman Rindberger very much the ‘straight man in the white suit’ and Leonhard Paul in a jacket that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Charlie Cairoli, it’s good to know that eccentricity is alive and well outside of the confines of England’s satirical shore.

There is even a degree of  ‘Englishness’ in the cartoon slapstick style of some of the humour, yet it is executed with such brilliance and panache.

Original, cleverly constructed, superbly timed and acted out with consummate polish and facial expression, it’s no mean feat to pull together a group of guys that can combine a natural flair for comedy with the musicianship that Mnozil is renowned for.

Secrets

With the ensemble due to make another visit to the UK later in the year it would perhaps be unfair to give too many secrets of the show away.

Suffice to say, you will never be able to listen to the ‘Arutunian Trumpet Concerto’ in quite the same way again after it performed on imaginary horseback in a scene that escalates into a wild western saloon brawl - in ‘Matrix’ slow motion.

What Leonhard Paul can do with his feet and two trombone slides (not to mention two trumpets at the same time) or the re-enactment of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video, complete with various disfigured ‘monsters’ is something to marvel at.

Rarely will you see so many people crying with laughter in one place.

Between the fun and games

Between the fun and games though there were amazing examples of the sheer range of Mnozil’s virtuosity.

From the theme to ‘The Streets of San Francisco’, via sublime renditions of James Taylor’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ and Schumann’s ‘Dreaming’, to ‘Peter Gunn’ and a wonderful, if predictable encore, of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, it was all staggering stuff.

It’s easy to run out of superlatives, but on a hot July night, with the audience rising in unanimous standing ovation, the group demonstrated just why they have become the most admired, unique and universally loved ensemble in the history of brass playing.

Long may they continue to entertain us all – even in Coventry.  

Christopher Thomas 

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