All Article articles – Page 156
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ArticleKodály: Sonata for solo cello op.8. Roxburgh: Partita for solo cello. Britten: Suite no.3 for solo cello op.87
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: James Barralet (cello) Composer: Kodály, Roxburgh, BrittenIn 2007 British cellist James Barralet won the Landor Records Competition; this debut disc is the result. Kodály’s Sonata opens it in arresting fashion. Barralet, who studied with Demenga at the Musikhochschule Basel, plays with energy ...
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ArticleOnslow: Piano Quintet op.70, Quintet ‘de la Balle’ op.38
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ensemble Monsolo, François-Joël Thiollier (piano) Composer: OnslowMany of Onslow’s 34 string quintets allow for an instrumentarium of flexible constitution. Ensemble Monsolo performs his semi-programmatic op.38, subtitled ‘The Bullet’, in the version for string quartet and double bass. These players convey the drama ...
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ArticleFantasy. Messiaen: La mort du nombre, Thème et variations, Fantaisie. Schoenberg: Phantasy op.47. Schubert: Fantasie D934, Si emir gegrüsst! D741
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Kaori Yamada (violin) Sholto Kynoch (piano) Rhona McKail (soprano) Nicky Spence (tenor)Composer: Messiaen, Schoenberg, Schubert Based around the idea of musical fantasy, this ingenious programme offsets the music of one of France’s most inspired and overtly sensual ‘fantasists’ against the heightened ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Nikolaj Znaider (violin) Staatskapelle Dresden/Colin Davis Composer: ElgarThere is a certain pedigree to this recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Nikolaj Znaider plays the Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ instrument of 1741 on which Kreisler, the work’s dedicatee, gave ...
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ArticleStrings and Isobars. Waxman: Carmen Fantasy. MacMillan: After the Tryst, Knock on Wood. Copland: Violin Sonata. Russell Bennett: A Song Sonata. Bolcom: Sonatina
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Yuko Uchiyama (violin) Dina Vainshtein (piano)Composer: Waxman, MacMillan, Copland, Russell Bennett, BolcomThis disc’s label – University of Hertfordshire Recordings – didn’t initially promise much, so I was very pleasantly surprised by its content. Yuko Uchiyama, soloist and also a member of the ...
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ArticlePágina Esquecida. Portuguese music for cello and piano: works by Lopes-Graça, Almeida, Fernandes, Freitas, Braga Santos, Branco, Peixinho, Costa & Carneyro
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Bruno Borralhinho (cello) Luisa Tender (piano)Composer: Lopes-Graça, Almeida, Fernandes, Freitas, Braga Santos, Branco, Peixinho, Costa & CarneyroThis compilation’s title, ‘Forgotten Page’, refers here to Portuguese cello music of the last century, but could just as well be used for Portuguese music as ...
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ArticleL’Art du Violon Seul dans L’Allemagne Baroque. Works by Bach, Biber, Pisendel & Westhoff
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Mira Glodeanu (Baroque violin)Composer: Bach, Biber, Pisendel & Westhoff There is a remarkable intimacy and adventurousness about Mira Glodeanu’s account of Bach’s First Sonata (BWV1001). She possesses a clean, substantially accurate left-hand technique and largely conveys voice-leading clearly and intelligently. Particularly ...
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ArticleBach: Cello Suites (complete)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Joseph Elworthy (cello)Composer: Bach Casals used to allude to the ever-changing face of the Bach suites, making the idea of committing one single view of these works to a recording a somewhat daunting process. Canadian cellist Joseph Elworthy, however, presents ...
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ArticleConversations for violin and piano. Rosing-Schow: E Rigidis. Nørgård: Fragment V, Diptychon. Ruders: Three Tiny Pieces for Great Friends, Bel Canto. Nordentoft: Two Movements. Koppel: Ternio
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider (violin) Ulrich Staerk (piano)Composer: Rosing-Schow, Nørgård, Ruders, Nordentoft, KoppelElisabeth Zeuthen Schneider presents an interesting trawl of works from Danish composers after the Second World War, including some earlyish Per Nørgård and recent pieces by Poul Ruders.I found the order ...
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ArticleRebel: Les éléments. Vivaldi: Le quattro stagione
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Midori Seiler (violin) Akademie für Alte Musik BerlinComposer: Rebel, VivaldiIt is fashionable now to emphasise the pictorial elements of The Four Seasons, which is fair enough up to a point: Vivaldi is quite clear about the chattering teeth and hailstorms. But these ...
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ArticleLang: Lyoba Revisited
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Daniel Pezzotti, Andi Plattner, Daniel Schaerer, Ambrosius Huber (cellos) Heiri Känzig (double bass) Mathieu Michel (flugelhorn) Thierry Lang (piano) Composer: LangThierry Lang’s ‘chamber jazz’ reinterpretations of melodies from his native western Switzerland combine cello quartet and jazz trio. While the framework ...
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ArticleReal Vocal String Quartet
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Real Vocal String QuartetComposer: VariousRVSQ presents originals and arrangements from various world folk traditions, its four members combining string playing and singing in an imaginative and charming way.Right from the opening moments, the articulation of the violin pizzicato and viola tune transport ...
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Norwegian violin legend Ole Bull stars in children's book
It's not only musicians and violin makers who can get excited by the Ole Bull 200th-anniversary celebrations this year. Children have a chance to discover the great Norwegian violinist in Oliver and the Magic Violin, a new fantasy adventure book published at Xlibris.com. The hero of the story, nine-year-old Oliver, ...
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Policy rethink on UK orchestra recruitment
Orchestral musician jobs in the UK that are not for leaders or principals of internationally recognised orchestras are likely to be removed from the country's shortage occupation list. The UK Border Agency's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is making the removal recommendation to government after publishing its third partial review of ...
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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians accept pay cut
The players of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra have agreed a new contract with management that entails a significant salary reduction as well as other concessions. In an effort to help the orchestra stave off the effects of the recession, the musicians accepted a pay freeze for the 2010-11 season, and ...
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Violinist Joshua Bell to give benefit concert in Bloomington, Indiana
Violinist Joshua Bell will give a benefit concert to help children's music education in the city where he grew up. Proceeds from his 13 April recital in Bloomington, Indiana, with British pianist Sam Haywood will support elementary-school string programmes, which are under threat amid a public school funding crisis in ...
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Violinist Ray Chen signs multi-year recording deal with Sony
Violinist Ray Chen has signed an exclusive multi-year recording contract with Sony Classical. The 21-year-old, who was born in Taiwan and grew up in Australia, is one of the most high-profile young soloists following his victories at the 2008 Menuhin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Chen's debut recital ...
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British violinist Simon Standage wins Telemann Prize
British Baroque violin specialist Simon Standage has been awarded the Telemann Prize by the city of Magdeburg in Germany. As soloist–director of Collegium Musicum 90, Standage made ten recordings of Telemann's music for Chandos in the 1990s. The award of the Telemann Prize, worth 2,500 euros, was announced at the ...
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Finzi Quartet receives £10,000 Royal Over-Seas League prize
The Finzi Quartet has won one of two £10,000 ensemble awards in the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) Annual Music Competition in London. Two other string players won solo prizes: cellist Jun Sasaki, a student of Thomas Carroll at the Royal College of Music, was awarded the £5,000 strings prize; and ...
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Taejun Park wins J.&A. Beare Solo Bach Competition
Seoul-born Taejun Park has won the J.&A. Beare Solo Bach Competition for string players, held at the Bishopsgate Institute in London. The 18-year-old violinist, a student of Albrecht Breuninger at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, was awarded £1,000. The second prize of £500 went to 20-year-old Latvian violinist Kristine Balanas. French cellist Claire-Lise ...
