All Article articles – Page 144
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National Symphony Orchestra cellistt Frederick Zenone dies
Cellist Frederick Zenone, who became an influential mediator in orchestral labour disputes, has died of cancer at the age of 74. Having learnt the trumpet in his youth, Zenone took up the cello very late, at 21. After joining the National Symphony in Washington DC in 1969, he became chairman ...
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Cellist barred from entering UK to play no-fee concerts
An American cellist was questioned by UK Border Agency officials at Heathrow airport for eight hours before being sent back on a plane to Chicago, according to a report in the Guardian. Kristin Ostling, a member of the Carpe Diem Quartet, which is resident at Ohio Wesleyan University, had been ...
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International Viola Society gathering set for Würzburg
The International Viola Society is set to hold its 2011 congress at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, Germany, next October. The 39th congress will run in combination with Bratschistentag, the annual German viola festival. Next year's Bratschistentag will include a pedagogic focus in tribute to Egon Sassmannshaus, the string-method ...
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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra launches own recording label
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will release the first recording on its new label ASO Media next February. The orchestra, which ended a 32-year association with Telarc in September, has chosen two new commissions for the 2011 release: QED: Engaging Richard Feynman, a choral work by Michael Gandolfi, and Jennifer ...
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UK orchestras compete for chance to record 209 national anthems for London 2012 Olympics
The organisers of the 2012 Olympics in London are looking for an orchestra to record 209 national anthems for the event. The anthems will be used at the Olympic medal ceremonies and also to welcome the teams to the Olympic village. The organising committee said that it wants 'an ...
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French violinist Solenne Païdassi wins Long–Thibaud contest
Solenne Païdassi has won the first grand prize at the Long–Thibaud International Competition in Paris. The 25-year-old, who lives in Hannover, is the first French winner of the top violin prize since Devy Erlih won in 1955. Païdassi received €30,500 and also won the audience prize. The second grand ...
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Polish composer Henryk Górecki dies aged 76
The composer Henryk Górecki has died at the age of 76 after suffering a long illness. Born in Silesia, south-west Poland, in 1933, Górecki studied violin before composition. He is most famous for his Third Symphony of 1976, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, a 1991 recording of ...
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Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair commits to Northern Sinfonia
Thomas Zehetmair has signed a new contract with the Northern Sinfonia, the orchestra of The Sage Gateshead in the UK. The 48-year-old Austrian violinist and conductor, who became the orchestra's music director in 2001, will now remain in the position until at least August 2014. Under the terms of ...
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Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra bassist dies in hiking accident
A bassist in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has died in a hiking accident. Georg Straka slipped and fell to his death while climbing Mount Fuji on a free day during the orchestra's current tour of Japan. He was 41. Born in Mödling, south of Vienna, in 1969, Straka studied ...
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Russian violist, quartet player and conductor Rudolf Barshai dies aged 86
Russian violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai has died in Switzerland. He had been struggling with health problems for the last year. Born in 1924, Barshai studied violin with Lev Zeitlin and viola with Vadim Borisovsky at the Moscow Conservatory before starting his career as a solo and ensemble player ...
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60-year-old violinist accuses Young Concert Artists of age discrimination
A violinist in New York is suing Young Concert Artists (YCA), claming that its eligibility rules for musicians are age-discriminatory, reports the New York Post. Martin Stoner, a 60-year-old former member of the New York City Ballet orchestra, wanted to enter YCA's audition competition, the winners of which receive ...
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ArticleHymns and Prayers. Tickmayer: Eight Hymns In Memoriam Andrei Tarkovsky*. Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor† . Kancheli: Silent prayer‡
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Gidon Kremer, Marija Nemanyt?† (violin) Maxim Rysanov† (viola) Giedr? Dirvanauskait?† ‡ (cello) Khatia Buniatishvili† (piano) Andrei Pushkarev* (vibraphone) Sofia Altunashvili‡ (voice on tape) Kremerata Baltica/Roman Kofman*‡Composer: Tickmayer, Franck, KancheliStevan Kovacs Tickmayer’s 2004 work Eight Hymns runs continuously for nearly ...
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ArticleFlights of Fantasy: Early Italian Chamber Music. Works by Castello, Farina, Cavalli, Marini, Legrenzi, Bertali, Frescobaldi & Biber
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists/Monica Huggett (director)Composer: Castello, Farina, Cavalli, Marini, Legrenzi, Bertali, Frescobaldi & Biber Monica Huggett and her colleagues demonstrate how various Italian or Italian-influenced composers realised the potential of the ascendant violin in the 17th century. The ten works ...
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ArticleMethera – In Concert
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Emma Reid, John Dipper (fiddle) Miranda Rutter (viola) Lucy Deakin (cello), Kerr Fagan HarbronComposer: VariousIf you have doubts over whether the string quartet is a natural medium for traditional music – and I did – then Methera will leave you converted. This ...
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ArticleSchumann: String Quartet in A minor op.41 no. 1, Piano Quintet in E flat major op. 44
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Pražák Quartet, Evgeni Koroliov (piano)Composer: Schumann This Schumann bicentenary tribute features two works that were publicly premiered on 8 January 1843 at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus by Ferdinand David’s Quartet, with Clara Schumann. The members of the Pražák Quartet give a perceptive, ...
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ArticleFoerster: String Quartets nos.1–5, String Quintet op.3, The Prayer, Erinnerung, Allegro giocoso
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Stamic Quartet, Ji?í Hudec (double bass) Jana Boušková (harp)Composer: Foerster Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951) was born when musical Romanticism was being revitalised by the gradual emergence of a series of national schools, most crucially in Bohemia. By the end ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op.20 nos.1–6
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Daedalus QuartetComposer: HaydnHaydn’s op.20 quartets come from a period when he was developing a more dramatic approach to the medium, and the American-based Daedalus Quartet reflect this in faithfully observing his dynamic markings, but without the exaggerations that are becoming too prevalent. ...
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ArticleKorngold: String Quartets nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Doric QuartetComposer: Korngold Those readers unfamiliar with these particular works may well be in for a surprise. Far from offering the expected distillation of (Richard) Straussian luxuriance and tone-poem exuberance, Korngold demonstrates a sensitivity for the genre that is far closer to, ...
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ArticlePaganini's 24 Caprices op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin)Composer: PaganiniFollowing second recordings of Paganini’s caprices by Thomas Zehetmair (reviewed December 2009) and James Ehnes (reviewed January 2010), Julia Fischer continues her exploration of these violinists’ benchmark works with her first issue of this challenging opus. Apart from a ...
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ArticleDominant Curve. Jacobsen: Achille’s Heel. Umezaki: (Cycles) what falls must rise. Debussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Yanov-Yanovsky: ...al niente. Cage: In a Landscape (arr. Messina)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Brooklyn Rider, Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi/electronics) Justin Messina (electronics)Composer: Jacobsen, Umezaki, Debussy, Yanov-Yanovsky, CageFrom the stylish CD design to the philosophical booklet notes, I was prepared to dismiss this new disc from young New York quartet Brooklyn Rider as style over substance. But ...
