All Article articles – Page 155
-
Article
Ben Lee breaks record for world's fastest violinist
Ben Lee was confirmed by Guinness World Records as the 'world's fastest violinist' after playing Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee in 64.21 seconds. The rock violinist used an acoustic violin to beat the previous record of 65.26 seconds held by David Garrett. Lee had made a previous attempt on the ...
-
Article
Mariinsky violinist is reunited with $400,000 Rogeri violin
A 1697 Rogeri violin, which was reported stolen from a hotel lobby in Austria, has turned up in the hotel's lost-and-found office. The $400,000 instrument belongs to a violinist in the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, which was in Vienna to play at the city's spring festival. She left it ...
-
Article
Menuhin Violin Competition delayed by Icelandic volcano
The schedule of the international Menuhin Competition for young violinists has been hit by the effects of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. With many northern European countries forced to close their airspace because of the danger that the cloud of volcanic ash poses to jet engines, the travel plans of ...
-
Article
Jennifer Higdon wins Pulitzer for violin concerto written for Hilary Hahn
Jennifer Higdon has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto. The work was written for Hilary Hahn, who gave the premiere with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in February 2009. The Brooklyn-born Higdon, who teaches composition at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, won a Grammy earlier this ...
-
Article
Dallas Symphony Orchestra concertmaster to step down
Dallas Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Emanuel Borok is to retire this August. Borok joined the orchestra as leader in 1985, having previously served eleven seasons as associate concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Latvian-born violinist said that he wanted to dedicate himself to teaching and to solo and chamber music ...
-
Article
Violinists Leonidas Kavakos and Alina Ibragimova up for UK music awards
Violinists Leonidas Kavakos and Alina Ibragimova feature on the shortlist for this year's Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, which are given for outstanding live classical music making in the UK. Kavakos and Ibragimova join pianist Stephen Hough in the instrumental category while the Schubert Ensemble and the Takács Quartet head ...
-
Article
Morton Feldman's six-hour String Quartet no.2 to get New York airing
Morton Feldman's marathon String Quartet no.2 will receive a rare performance this Sunday, 11 April. Four members from the new-music ensemble Ne(x)tworks will perform the piece at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, New York. Composed as one continous movement, the quartet lasts for around six hours. The performance will ...
-
Article
Violinist Ryu Goto launches initiative for New York public school students
Japanese-American violinist Ryu Goto has joined forces with New York City Council and the city's Department of Education to launch a music education scheme for public school students. The 21-year-old New Yorker's Excellence in Music initiative includes masterclasses and individual workshop opportunities, as well as a $1,000 scholarship for a ...
-
Article
Ex-Nash Ensemble violinist Marcia Crayford to lead Mid Wales Chamber Orchestra
British violinist Marcia Crayford is the leader of a new professional orchestra serving Mid Wales. Crayford led the Nash Ensemble for 25 years and later served as leader of the London Symphony Orchestra. The Mid Wales Chamber Orchestra will serve audiences, schools and communities across rural Powys and Dyfed. Its ...
-
ArticleRuehr: String Quartets nos.1, 3 & 4
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: Ruehr It’s a brave move by the San Francisco-based Cypress Quartet to devote its new disc entirely to a contemporary composer, and a little-known name at that. But the music of Elena Ruehr, raised in Michigan and ...
-
ArticleScott: Piano Trios nos.1 & 2, Clarinet Quintet, Clarinet Trio, Cornish Boat Song
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Gould Piano Trio, Mia Cooper (violin) David Adams (viola) Robert Plane (clarinet) Composer: ScottThe fact that Cyril Scott (1879–1970) was musically educated in Germany from the age of twelve, and there enjoyed his first success as a major composer, did much to ...
-
ArticleTchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence op.70 (transcr. Turovsky), String Quartet no.1 in D op.11 (arr. string orchestra)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: I Musici de Montréal/Yuli Turovsky Composer: TchaikovskyThe tantalisingly balance between Tchaikovsky’s natural propensity for music fired by extra-musical sources and his veneration of the absolute music of the Viennese Classical masters (exemplified by his life-long admiration of Mozart) is everywhere evident here. ...
-
ArticleFauré: Piano Quintets no.1 in D minor op. 89 & no.2 in C minor op.115
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Schubert EnsembleComposer: FauréWilliam Howard’s piano opening of Fauré’s First Piano Quintet conjures up water rippling through stones, and it is that fresh and open-air atmosphere that permeates the whole of this performance. It has often been said that the work does not ...
-
ArticleFirst Steps. Bruckner: Rondo in C minor. Britten: String Quartet in F major. Puccini: String Quartet in D major. Grieg: Fugue in F minor. Rachmaninoff: String Quartet no.1. Webern: Langsamer Satz. Sch
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ruysdael QuartetComposer: Bruckner, Britten, Puccini, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Webern, SchoenbergUnder the album title ‘First Steps’, the Ruysdael Quartet has created a programme of apprentice pieces to create a quite delightful release. Many of the composers did not continue writing in this genre, but ...
-
ArticleHartmann: String Quartets no.1 (Carillon) & no.2, Little Concerto for string quartet and percussion, Chamber Concerto for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra; plus interviews
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Doelen Quartet, Arjan Woudenberg (clarinet) Wilbert Grootenboer (percussion) Sinfonia Rotterdam/Conrad van AlphenComposer: HartmannString enthusiasts are most likely to know Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–63) for his Concerto funèbre (1939) for violin and strings, a key work of the Munich-based composer’s self-imposed internal exile ...
-
ArticleLe Maître et L’Élève. Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor. Offenbach: Duo Lettre F: Suite no.1 in G minor for two cellos. Popper: Virtuoso pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Raphaël Pidoux, Bruno Philippe (cellos) Elodie Soulard (accordion)Composer: Bach, Offenbach, PopperAs the title suggests, two young players each accompany Raphaël Pidoux, in keeping with the pedagogical concept behind the Offenbach Suite. Bruno Philippe is the partner in this work, the last in ...
-
ArticleProkofiev: String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Sonata for two violins op.56
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Pavel Haas QuartetComposer: Prokofiev Considering their high quality, it is surprising how relatively few couplings of Prokofiev’s two string quartets have emerged on disc. If neo-Classical precision is a priority the Emerson Quartet (available as a download ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in B flat major op.130, Grosse Fuge in B flat major op.133
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Vertavo QuartetComposer: BeethovenThe all-female Vertavo Quartet from Norway has gained a reputation among the most versatile of ensembles. Its members celebrate their 25th year together with, surprisingly, their very first Beethoven recording.The impact of their playing is very positive: expressive, spontaneous and ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas vol.2: Sonatas in A minor op.23 & F major (Spring) op.24, Twelve Variations on ‘Se vuol ballare’ WoO40, Six German Dances WoO42
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hiro Kurosaki (violin) Linda Nicholson (fortepiano)Composer: Beethoven Period instruments are rarely as precise as the Franz Geissenhof instrument Hiro Kurosaki uses on this recording: it was made in 1801, the year these sonatas were published, and in Vienna, the city ...
-
ArticleAdès: Violin Concerto ‘Concentric Paths’ op.24*, Tevot† , Three Studies from Couperin*, Overture, Waltz & Finale from ‘Powder her Face’‡
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Description: Selection disc 1: Musicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Thomas Adès*, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle† , National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Paul Daniel‡Composer: AdèsOne of the challenges facing composers over the last century or so ...
