All Article articles – Page 189
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ArticleKoechlin: Vingt chansons bretonnes op.115, Cello Sonata op.66. Debussy: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Peter Bruns (cello) Roglit Ishay (piano)Composer: Koechlin, Debussy The Debussy Sonata was the highlight of this disc for me. The German-Israeli partnership of Bruns and Ishay manage to get everything just right, faithfully observing its myriad directions on ...
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ArticleShostakovich: String Quartets nos.3, 14 & 15, Piano Quintet in G minor op.57
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Juilliard String Quartet, Yefim Bronfman (piano) Composer: ShostakovichThe Juilliard Quartet was on a very different continent when the Beethoven Quartet was making its legendary recordings of the Shostakovich quartets, and is now able to stand back from the ...
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ArticleChausson: Piano Trio in G minor op.3. Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ernest Chausson TrioComposer: Chausson, Ravel On the Wagner wing of late 19th-century French composers, Chausson was on the verge of a stylistic breakthrough, fanning his super-heated music with gentle Fauréan and Ravellian breezes, when he was tragically killed in a freak cycling ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in E minor K304, in A major K305, in E flat major K380 & in B flat major K454
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dmitry Sitkovetsky (violin) Antonio Pappano (piano)Composer: MozartAs this disc is labelled ‘Vol.1’, I hope the recording team will reconsider its engineering policy before the next volume – especially since there is nothing wrong with the venue, Potton Hall in Suffolk, a proven ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Quintet in F minor op.34, String Sextet in G major op.36
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Isabelle Faust (violin) Veronika Eberle (violin) Hanna Weinmeister (viola) Stefan Fehlandt (viola) Julian Steckel (cello) Gustav Rivinius (cello) Lars Vogt (piano)Composer: Brahms These splendid, well-rehearsed performances from the Heimbach Festival are of more than ...
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ArticleMozart: Piano Trios in E major K542, in C major K548 & in G major K564
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: The Queen’s Chamber TrioComposer: Mozart The Queen’s Chamber Trio’s ‘decidedly revolutionary’ approach to these works, as claimed in the booklet, involves using a harpsichord rather than a fortepiano. While this has some historical credibility, the instrumentarium employed here is ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonata in A major op.69. Chopin: Cello Sonata op.65. Glazunov: Chant du ménestrel. Rubinstein: Mélodie in F (arr. Popper). Offenbach: Les larmes de Jacqueline (arr. Thomas-Mifune). Po
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Richard Harwood (cello) Christoph Berner (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Chopin, Glazunov, Rubinstein, Offenbach, PopperBritish cellist Richard Harwood, winner of the Pierre Fournier award in 2004, made his BBC Radio 3 debut aged 13 playing Elgar’s Concerto, and has studied for four years with Heinrich ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op.76
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Budapest QuartetComposer: Haydn To have a great chamber ensemble playing six great works is not to be sneezed at. So I have to explain why I would rather be listening to a reissue of a different set of Haydn’s ...
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ArticleDvorák: Piano Trio op.90 ‘Dumky’. Beethoven: Piano Trio op.97 ‘Archduke’
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Guarneri Trio PragueComposer: Dvorák, Beethoven In autumn 2006 the Guarneri Trio celebrated its 20th anniversary: these vital performances handsomely illustrate the trio’s technical excellence, seasoned maturity and colourful musical personalities.The purity and refinement of the Guarneri’s playing can ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Sonata*, Violin Sonata† , Romance and Nocturne from ‘The Gadfly’ (arr. Yablonsky)‡
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dmitry Yablonsky (cello/conductor) Maxim Fedotov (violin) Ekaterina Saranceva (piano)* Galina Petrova (piano)† Russian Philharmonic Orchestra‡Composer: ShostakovichDmitry Yablonsky offers a wonderfully warm and sensitive performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, first heard in 1934, around the time of the composer’s near-fatal brush with ...
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ArticleReflection. Bartók: Sonata for solo violin. Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor. Ravel: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Bartók, Debussy, RavelIt’s encouraging to see performers embracing the opportunities provided by new technologies. Only a couple of months ago I welcomed Ruth Palmer’s engrossing documentary on Shostakovich which accompanied her Quartz coupling of the First ...
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ArticleBax: Viola Sonata, Legend, Trio in One Movement, Concert Piece
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Laurence Jackson (violin) MartinuOutram (viola) Julian Rolton (piano)Composer: Bax With the Bax violin sonatas already safely under his belt for Naxos (with pianist Ashley Wass), Laurence Jackson returns to the fold alongside MartinuOutram (violist with the Maggini Quartet) ...
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ArticleChopin: Cello Sonata, Introduction and Polonaise brillante. Grieg: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Michal Kanka (cello) Jaromír Klepác (piano)Composer: Chopin, GriegFrom Beethoven onwards the piano has held a pivotal role in shaping the performance in the cello sonata, and neither the Grieg nor the Chopin sonatas are exceptions. In consequence the piano very much drives ...
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ArticleGaluppi: Concerti a quattro
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ensemble Il FalconeComposer: GaluppiCharles Burney praised Baldassare Galuppi’s skills as a contrapuntist and as ‘a friend to poetry’. These seven ‘Concerti a quattro’ largely endorse Burney’s approbation, incorporating much contrapuntal expertise and expressive lyricism.Ensemble Il Falcone’s interpretations are thoughtfully prepared, even if ...
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ArticleSchop: Hamburger Ratsmusicus
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Simone Eckert (treble viol/director), Hamburger RatsmusikComposer: SchopFrom the 16th century until almost 1800, the music-loving Hanseatic city of Hamburg kept a virtuoso string ensemble of about eight members to perform at religious services and official ceremonies, the Ratsmusik (council musicians). Johann Schop led ...
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ArticleJ.S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001–6
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: John Holloway (violin)Composer: J.S. Bach This is very special indeed. As a distinguished Baroque violinist and Biber interpreter of decades’ standing, John Holloway views the Bach sonatas and partitas as the culmination of a tradition and style, rather than coming to them ...
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ArticleRawsthorne: String Quartets nos.1–4, Theme and Variations for two violins
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Maggini QuartetComposer: Rawsthorne Rawsthorne was not a string player, and listening to these quartets one feels they were conceived for four musical lines rather than for four stringed instruments. It’s rare for them to use any techniques more adventurous than pizzicato, resulting ...
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ArticleThe British Book. Weir: String Quartet. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor op.83. Maxwell Davies: Little Quartets nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Reinhold QuartetComposer: Weir, Elgar, Maxwell DaviesIt is tempting to wonder whether a British ensemble would package together the works of, say, Henze, Stockhausen and Rihm and call it The German Book. There does seem to be a whiff of the exotic in ...
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ArticleIves: String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Scherzo
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Blair QuartetComposer: Ives The Blair Quartet brings many good qualities to Ives’s idiosyncratic quartets, not least the ability to bind their more bizarre aspects together with conviction. There is a muscularity to this playing, emphasised by the clear, dry recording, which aptly ...
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ArticleBacewicz: Violin Sonatas nos.1-5, Partita, Humoreske, Kolysanka, Witraz, Melodia, Two Oberki, Concertino, Caprice, Theme with Variations, Three Dances
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Piotr Plawner (violin) Ewa Kupiec (piano)Composer: Bacewicz The Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz was herself a violinist of distinction, who studied with André Touret and Carl Flesch, as well as mastering composition with Nadia Boulanger. Bacewicz’s ...
