All Beethoven articles – Page 10
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FocusA history and anatomy of Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata
The dedicatee of Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata considered it so impenetrable that he never even played it. Rok Klopčič untangles some of the difficulties of this much-loved work
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ReviewBeethoven: Complete Cello Sonatas
The Strad Issue: June 2016 Description: Cult cellist goes over the top in the five Beethoven sonatas Musicians: Daniil Shafran (cello) Anton Ginzburg (piano) Composer: Beethoven These excellent interpretations of the five Beethoven cello sonatas are ...
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ReviewThe Szymanowski Trip. Beethoven: String Quartet no.2 in G major op.18 no.2. Laks: String Quartet no.3. Prokofiev: String Quartet no.2 in F major op.92. Ravel: String Quartet in F major. Schubert: Quar
The Strad Issue: May 2016Description: Three recitals follow Szymanowski on his travels around EuropeMusicians: Szymanowski QuartetComposer: Beethoven; Laks; Prokofiev; Ravel; Schubert; Skoryk; Szymanowski; Tchaikovsky; WebernThis set comprises three separate discs, the first two previously released in 2009 and 2011, each setting the quartets of Szymanowski in the ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Romance in F major op.50. Berg: Violin Concerto. R. Fuchs: Nine Fantasy Pieces. Joachim: Hebrew Melodies
The Strad Issue: March 2016Description: Zukerman tapings from the 1990s finally see the light of dayMusicians: Pinchas Zukerman (violin/viola) Marc Neikrug (piano) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin MehtaComposer: Beethoven; Berg; R. Fuchs; JoachimThe sequence of nine pieces from Robert Fuchs’s three books of Fantasiestücke is the best violin playing ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: February 2016Description: Sparkling performances of Beethoven’s cello sonatas and variationsMusicians: Xavier Phillips (cello) François-Frédéric Guy (piano)Composer: BeethovenBy way of a musical limbering-up exercise, Xavier Phillips and François-Frédéric Guy open their latest release with the three sets of variations that Beethoven based on ...
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ReviewCello Concertos, Sonatas & Suites. Works by Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud and Schumann
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Collected performances by a legendary Canadian cellistMusicians: Zara Nelsova (cello) Artur Balsam, Lothar Broddack (pianos) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Georg Ludwig Jochum, Gerd AlbrechtComposer: Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud, SchumannThe greatest cellist to come out of the Americas (see ‘Great Cellists’, ...
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ReviewMetamorfora: Works for Double Bass and Piano. Beethoven: Variations on ‘Bei Männern’. Boccherini: Sonata no.6 in A minor. Oswald: Sonata in E minor. Proto: Nine Variants on Paganini. Salllinen: Metam
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Four transcriptions for bass – but the original work comes off bestMusicians: Marcos Machado (double bass) Ney Fialkow (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Boccherini, Oswald, Proto, SallinenMarcos Machado’s first recorded performance, on Tarik O’Regan’s Threshold of Night, was twice Grammy-nominated, and his first solo effort ...
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ReviewBeethoven: ‘Triple’ Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra op.56; Overtures: The Creatures of Prometheus; Egmont; Coriolan
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A ‘Triple’ that treads the line between old and new stylesMusicians: Giuliano Carmignola (violin) Sol Gabetta (cello) Dejan Lazić (piano) Basel Chamber Orchestra/Giovanni AntoniniComposer: BeethovenIt is becoming increasingly clear that we live in interesting times as regards the performance of historical music. ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Six String Quartets op.18
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: November 2015Description: A quartet fully alive to the characters of Beethoven’s early op.18 setMusicians: Jerusalem QuartetComposer: BeethovenThe Jerusalem Quartet members bring their own cultivated blend to these extraordinary works without either dampening their novelty or introducing anachronistic mannerisms: they respect the set’s ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Complete String Trios
The Strad Issue: October 2015Description: A late-style approach to Beethoven’s early worksMusicians: Jacques Thibaud String TrioComposer: BeethovenBefore he reached the age of 28, Beethoven had produced five works for that troublesome, ill-established genre, the string trio. The First Symphony (1799–1800) lay in the near future, as did ...
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ReviewSonatas for Fortepiano and Violin Vol.1. Beethoven: Violin Sonatas: no.4 in A minor op.23; no.9 in A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’
The Strad Issue: October 2015Description: Old and new styles come together in period-instrument sonatasMusicians: Susanna Ogata (violin) Ian Watson (fortepiano)Composer: BeethovenThis first instalment of a projected four-volume cycle marks the debut of ‘Coro Connections’, an addition to the Coro label that features performers associated with Harry Christophers ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Violin Sonatas: no.4 in A minor op.23; no.5 in F major op.24 ‘Spring’. Schumann: Violin Sonata no.1 in A minor op.105
The Strad Issue: October 2015Description: Character and colour from a pair of Bulgarian musicians in AmericaMusicians: Dimitri Hadjipetkov (violin) Sarkis Baltaian (piano)Composer: Beethoven, SchumannDimitri Hadjipetkov and Sarkis Baltaian give a firm, incisive performance of Beethoven’s A minor Sonata, opening with a high-spirited dash through the Presto, punching ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61; Symphony no.8 in F major op.93. Brahms: String Sextet no.1 in B flat major op.18
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Dumay lives dangerously as soloist, conductor and chamber playerMusicians: Augustin Dumay (violin/conductor) Sinfonia Varsovia, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra; Svetlin Roussev (violin) Miguela da Silva, Marie Chilemme (violas) Henri Demarquette, Aurélien Pascal (cellos)Composer: Beethoven, BrahmsAugustin Dumay’s musical attributes are demonstrated here in solo, conducting ...
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ReviewImpérial Oïstrakh! Works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Franck, Lalo, Mozart, Schubert and Wieniawski
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Complete works and extracts help to illustrate Oistrakh’s greatnessMusicians: David Oistrakh (violin) various artistsComposer: Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Franck, Lalo, Mozart, Schubert and WieniawskiThis compilation seems designed for those Classic FM listeners who like ‘a bit of Mozart’. Four complete works, including the ...
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ReviewThomas Gould: Live in Riga. Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Contemporary music specialist performs a pair of violin standardsMusicians: Sinfonietta Riga/Thomas Gould (violin)Composer: Beethoven, Vaughan WilliamsThomas Gould – familiar to British audiences as associate leader of the Britten Sinfonia and leader of the yet more dynamic Aurora Orchestra – has a strong ...
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BlogsStar violinist James Ehnes on his ‘other’ life as a chamber musician
Thomas May talks to the violinist about his Beethoven string quartet cycle — one of the most ambitious projects he’s ever undertaken.
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trios: in E flat major op.1 no.1; in E flat major, Hess 48 (Allegretto); in B flat major op.97 ‘Archduke’
The Strad Issue: July 2015Description: The Gould players complete their survey of Beethoven’s piano triosMusicians: Gould Piano TrioComposer: BeethovenThe sprightly, deftly phrased opening of Beethoven’s youthful First Piano Trio is a promising opening to this fourth and final volume of the complete Beethoven piano trios, recorded live ...
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ReviewOscar Shumsky: Legendary Treasures. Works by Bach, Beethoven, Buxtehude, Hindemith, Kreisler, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, Tartini, Telemann and Wieniawski
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Historic recordings from a great American violinistMusicians: Oscar Shumsky (violin) Nadia Reisenberg, Carroll Hollister, Mario Bernardi, Leo Barkin, George Schick, Earl Wild, Frank Maus (piano) Lois Marshall, Erna Berger (sopranos) Maureen Forrester (contralto) James Melton (tenor) Bach Aria Group, CBC Orchestra, Al ...
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FocusChristian Tetzlaff on Beethoven's Violin Concerto cadenza
The violinist discusses Beethoven's original piano cadenza for the work, which he has arranged for violin
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets in C minor op.18 no.4; in E major op.74 ‘Harp’; in B flat major op.130; Grosse Fuge op.133
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSDescription: The Elias embarks on a Beethoven quartet cycleMusicians: Elias QuartetComposer: BeethovenIt is a decade since I first encountered the remarkably gifted young musicians of the Elias Quartet, when they became founder members of the Sheffield-based chamber group Ensemble 360. They have musically travelled a long ...