All Article articles – Page 186
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ArticleSchubert: String Quartets in G major D887 & in G minor D173
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Mandelring QuartetComposer: Schubert What Schubert achieved in his brief life never ceases to amaze, yet even within this short space of time, his style developed hugely. This is particularly evident on this marvellously recorded SACD of two of his ...
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ArticleWieniawski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor op.22. Bacewicz: Concerto for Orchestra. Penderecki: Agnus Dei
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Wojciech Plawner (violin), Beethoven Academy Orchestra/Pawel PrzytockiComposer: Wieniawski, Bacewicz, Penderecki Wieniawski’s D minor Concerto has been especially lucky on disc. The scorching intensity and fizzing virtuosity of Michael Rabin’s classic 1960 account (currently out of the catalogue) still take some beating, ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Sonata no.2, Sonata for solo violin, Contrasts
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Annar Follesø (violin) Christian Ihle Hadland (piano) Björn Nyman (clarinet)Composer: Bartók There is a Nordic chill to these performances that is entirely foreign to the picture of Bartók I have built up over the past half century.I ...
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ArticleScott: Violin Concerto, Festival Overture, Aubade op.77, Three Symphonic Dances op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Olivier Charlier (violin) BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)Composer: Scott At the outset of the 20th century Cyril Scott was much admired by the music establishment as a progressive modernist, but his lack of stylistic development soon found him loosing ...
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Katharine Gowers. Works by Monti, Fauré, Ravel, Gershwin, Debussy, Bloch, Ponce, Krein, Suk, Kreisler, Heuberger, Achron & Hubay.
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Katherine Gowers (violin), Charles Owen (piano)Composer: Monti, Fauré, Ravel, Gershwin, Debussy, Bloch, Ponce, Krein, Suk, Kreisler, Heuberger, Achron & Hubay Katherine Gowers’s refreshingly individual take on these delectable violin miniatures triumphantly prevents this recital from becoming just another in the long line of technique ...
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ArticleHarrison: An Unexpected Light*, A Hidden Light† , Geda’s Weavings‡, Songs for Rusne, …an angel reads my open book…† , The Bride’s Journey in Three Songs and a Memory¶
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Rusne Mataityte (violin), Arturas Silale (violin)‡, Vitalija Raskeviciute (viola)‡, Edmundas Kulikauskas (cello)‡¶, Sergejus Okrusko (piano)† , Albina Siksniute (piano)¶ St Christopher Chamber Orchestra, Vilnius, Donatus Katkus (conductor)*Composer: Harrison Sadie Harrison’s assimilation of what used to be known as folksong ...
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ArticleMaxim Rysanov. Works by Brahms, Glinka, Enescu, Bridge, Franck & Tabakova
The Strad Issue: January 2013Musicians: Maxim Rysanov (viola) Evelyn Chang (piano)Composer: Brahms, Glinka, Enescu, Bridge, Franck & Tabakova This recording makes an interesting calling card for the Ukrainian violist Maxim Rysanov, a major prizewinner from both the Tertis and Geneva competitions. Indeed, at his best, he sounds ...
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ArticleJenkins: Five-Part Consorts
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: PhantasmComposer: Jenkins Last year I heartily welcomed a recording of John Jenkins’s six-part consort music by these interpreters (see The Strad, June 2006). Here is its sequel, including all the five-part ensembles: three pavans and 17 fantasies. That previous ...
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ArticleDvorák: String Quartets no.1 in A major op.2, no.2 in B flat major, no.3 in D major, no.4 in E minor, no.5 in F minor op.9, no.6 in A minor op. 12, no.7 in A minor op.16, String Quintet in A minor op.
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Zemlinsky Quartet, Josef Kluson (viola)Composer: DvorákDvorák completed his first seven string quartets within a period of 13 years in the flush of youthful creativity, though only the Seventh was published in his lifetime. The present disc uses the performing versions from the ...
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ArticleClarke: Viola Sonata; Passacaglia (on an old English tune); Lullaby; Lullaby on an Ancient Irish Tune; Morpheus; Chinese Puzzle; I’ll Bid My Heart Be Still; Dumka; Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale; Unti
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Philip Dukes (viola) Daniel Hope (violin) Sophia Rahman (piano) Robert Plane (clarinet)Composer: ClarkePaul Cortese recently included Rebecca Clarke’s Lullaby and Grotesque (enchanting miniatures, beautifully written) on a Crystal Records recital, although this extensive Naxos collection gives us a better opportunity to assess ...
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ArticleIl virtuoso. Works by Sarasate, Paganini, Bodorov, Wieniawski, Spohr, Kreisler, Suk & Bazzini
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Miroslav Ambroš (violin) Zuzana Ambrošová (piano)Composer: Sarasate, Paganini, Bodorov, Wieniawski, Spohr, Kreisler, Suk & BazziniThough still a student at the Prague Academy, the 19-year-old Czech violinist Miroslav Ambroš has a quite impressive list of prizes in youth competitions to his name, which ...
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ArticleSaint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas nos.1 & 2, Suite op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Maria Kliegel (cello) François-Joël Thiollier (piano)Composer: Saint-Saëns Saint-Saëns is very much the casino player of composers. Sometimes he is on a lucky streak and his formidable compositional technique is coupled with inspired and delightful invention. At other times, however, ...
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ArticleArnold: String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Phantasy for String Quartet (Vita Abundans)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Maggini QuartetComposer: ArnoldMalcolm Arnold remains a musical enigma; he was never seemingly sure whether he was looking for popularity or craving acceptance as a serious composer. Nowhere is that more in evidence than the two numbered quartets, which was composed ...
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Bach: Sonatas no.1 in G minor BWV1001 & no.2 in A minor BWV1003, Partita no.1 BWV1002
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Jacqueline Ross (violin)Composer: BachThe first interest of this traversal of solo Bach lies in the violin: an Andrea Amati of 1570, the sort of instrument more often viewed in these pages than heard, especially in the flesh. In capturing its eggshell tints ...
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ArticleQuintets with Two Cellos. Brahms: String Quintet in F minor op.34 (reconstr. Brown). Joseph Miroslav Weber: String Quintet no.1 in D major
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Divertimenti EnsembleComposer: Brahms, Joseph Miroslav Weber Joseph Miroslav Weber’s First String Quintet incorporates programmatic titles for its four movements, offering attractive fare in a style approaching, but rarely surpassing, that of his more illustrious Czech contemporaries Dvo?rák and Smetana. ...
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ArticleBridge: String Sextet in E flat major. Korngold: String Sextet in D major op.10
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: ConcertanteComposer: Bridge, Korngold Composed in 1912, Bridge’s three-movement E flat major Sextet shows an effortless grasp of Straussian chromatic harmony, with typically expert writing for the viola, and a formal control that makes light of the structural ...
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Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin BWV1001–6, Partita for Solo Flute BWV1013 (arr. viola)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Scott Slapin (viola)Composer: Bach American violist Scott Slapin’s second recording of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas features big-boned Bach playing. He uses a modern ‘cut-away’ viola by Hiroshi Lizuka, which is given a warmly vivid personality in this resonant recording. ...
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ArticleJ.S. Bach's Suites for solo cello BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: David Kenedy (cello)Composer: Bach Having been inspired to take up the cello through listening to Casals’s recordings of the Bach suites, it’s perhaps inevitable that David Kenedy, a pupil of Aldo Parisot and Boris Pergamenschikow, should have approached ...
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ArticleDvorák: String Quartet in A flat major op.105, Piano Quintet in A major op.81
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Psophos Quartet, Dana Ciocarlie (piano) Composer: DvorákThe Psophos continues on its inconsistent path with this CD, which contains one good performance and one that has sorely tried my patience. The adorable A flat Quartet opens with a ...
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ArticleShostakovich: String Quartets nos.6, 8 & 11
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Jerusalem Quartet Composer: ShostakovichThis disc makes me regret that I have not heard the Jerusalem’s first disc of Shostakovich quartets, with nos.1, 4 and 9. If we are to have yet another cycle of all 15, it should ...
