Book reviews – Page 123
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ReviewMynstrelles with Straunge Sounds: Music by Encina, Josquin, Martini and others
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Reconstructed 16th-century instruments take on early consort worksMusicians: Clare Wilkinson (mezzo-soprano) Rose Consort of ViolsComposer: Encina, Josquin, Martinu and othersThis recording takes us right back to the earliest days of the 16th century, when the viol consort had just become the latest ...
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ReviewTelemann: Sonatas for violin and basso continuo TWV41: G major G1, G minor g1, A minor a1, D minor d5, D minor d6, E minor e8, G major G10; Fantasia no.9 in B minor for solo violin TWV40:22
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Alert readings of a handful of Telemann’s accompanied sonatasMusicians: Arsenale Sonoro: Boris Begelman (violin) Ludovico Minasi (cello) Alexandra Koreneva (harpsichord)Composer: TelemannBoris Begelman offers highly accomplished readings of seven of Telemann’s sonatas for violin and basso continuo, four of which are claimed to ...
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ReviewBach: Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord: no.1 in G major BWV1027, no.2 in D major BWV1028, no.3 in G minor BWV1029
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: First double bass recordings of Bach’s three gamba sonatasMusicians: Richard Hartshorne (double bass) Daniel Sedgwick (harpsichord)Composer: BachRichard Hartshorne is perhaps a little too self-effacing for his own good. In his booklet notes, he justifies his premiere double bass recording of Bach’s sonatas ...
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ReviewPleyel: Violin Concerto in D major; Symphony in F major. Vanhal: Symphony in G major
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Rediscovered works by lesser-known contemporaries of Haydn and MozartMusicians: Sebastian Bohren (violin) Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto/Luca BizzozeroComposer: Pleyel, VanhalSebastian Bohren seems surprisingly laid-back in his approach to Pleyel’s Violin Concerto. Nevertheless, he performs the work with style, vitality and ...
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ReviewBacewicz: Complete String Quartets Vol.2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Polish players complete survey of their compatriot’s quartetsMusicians: Lutoslawski QuartetComposer: BacewiczIt might seem churlish to compare this fine release unfavourably with its predecessor, vol.1 of the Lutoslawski Quartet’s complete Bacewicz string quartet survey (reviewed in October 2015). It’s undoubtedly down ...
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ReviewNielsen: Violin Concerto. Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor; Two Serenades
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Exceptional playing, if a little muted, in concertos by two anniversariansMusicians: Baiba Skride (violin) Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Santtu-Matias RouvaliComposer: Nielsen, SibeliusSibelius’s Violin Concerto offers a great variety of interpretative possibilities (see this month’s article), and in this release the Tampere Philharmonic, under ...
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ReviewThe New Four Seasons. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: It’s The Four Seasons, but not as we know itMusicians: Nigel Kennedy (violin)Composer: VivaldiHow do you like your Vivaldi? Classic, like the several recordings by I Musici, or fiercely ‘authentic’, like Adrian Chandler’s recent disc (see November issue)? Cool like ...
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ReviewHahn: Violin Sonata in C major; Romance in A major; Nocturne in E flat major. Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor; Nocturne and Tarantella
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: An ‘odd couple’ of composers receive warm-hearted performances Musicians: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Hahn, SzymanowskiTamsin Waley-Cohen launches into Szymanowski’s Sonata with gusto, her bow rasping on the string in the composer’s passionate flights, her sound meltingly beautiful and fragile in ...
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ReviewPurcell: 12 Sonatas of Three Parts
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Italian influences in Purcell’s very English trio sonatasMusicians: King’s ConsortComposer: PurcellIn the preface to his first set of 12 Sonatas – published in 1683 when he was only 24 – Purcell modestly declared that he had ‘faithfully endeavour’d a just ...
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ReviewP. Gregson: Touch
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Late-night cello consolation – but is it spiritual or soporific?Musicians: Peter Gregson (cello)Composer: Gregson‘Something lush with lots of despair’ was Peter Gregson’s aim for his second album, not counting his soundtrack for A Little Chaos. Job done, I’d say. Even the mock-Baroque ...
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ReviewBiber: Rosary Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Podger and friends are the ideal guides to Biber’s mysterious sonatasMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin) David Miller (theorbo/archlute) Jonathan Manson (cello/viola da gamba) Marcin ŠšwiÄ…tkiewicz (harpsichord/organ)Composer: BiberThe weird and the wonderful combine to compelling effect in Biber’s Rosary Sonatas. And Rachel ...
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ReviewInspiration. Dvorák: Serenade for Strings. Herbert: Yesterthoughts; Punchinello; Ghazel SUK Serenade for Strings; Love Song (arr. Schmidt)
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A new German ensemble is persuasive in mainly Czech musicMusicians: Metamorphosen Berlin/Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt (cello/director)Composer: Dvorák, HerbertJosef Suk’s Serenade for Strings is still cast in the role of Cinderella to the more popular works of that title by Tchaikovsky and Dvorák, which ...
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ReviewDuke: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata; Etude for violin and bassoon; Hommage to Offenbach; Capriccio méxicano
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Broadway tunesmith turns to ‘serious’ music – with mixed resultsMusicians: Elmira Darvarova (violin) Kim Laskowski (bassoon) ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna/Scott Dunn (conductor/piano)Composer: DukeAll goes well until the final movement of Vernon Duke’s 1941 Violin Concerto, where he defaults to polystylistic ‘tema ...
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ReviewViola Dolorosa. Britten: Elegy; Lachrymae. Seabourne: PietÁ
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A finely wrought new addition to the viola and piano repertoireMusicians: Georg Hamann (viola) Akari Komiya (piano)Composer: Britten, SeabourneThe three compositions united under this recital’s somewhat masochistic title variously explore the mood of ‘deep sadness’ that Berlioz singled out as the viola’s ...
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ReviewBrahms: String Quartets op.51: no.1 in C minor, no.2 in A minor; In stiller Nacht
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A faithful approach to the score mutes the drama of Brahms’s op.51Musicians: Quiroga QuartetComposer: BrahmsOver the years, Brahms’s first two string quartets have become tarnished with so much ‘interpretative insight’ that the Quiroga Quartet’s unaffected performance of the C minor Quartet at ...
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ReviewThe Sonatas. Brahms: Cello Sonata no.1 in E minor (transc. de Groot). Gubaidulina: Double Bass Sonata. Hindemith: Double Bass Sonata. Vasks: Solo Double Bass Sonata
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Brahms on the bass – at pitch! – and three more recent worksMusicians: Niek de Groot (double bass) Catherine Klipfel (piano)Composer: Brahms, Gubaidulina, Hindemith, VasksAs his thoughtful message in the booklet states, Niek de Groot’s career was forged on the idea that ...
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ReviewBrahms: Cello Sonatas: no.1 in E minor op.38; no.2 in F major op.99; Six Lieder (transc. Schwabe/Rimmer)
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Speedy traversals of the cello sonatas don’t delve below the surfaceMusicians: Gabriel Schwabe (cello) Nicholas Rimmer (piano)Composer: BrahmsThis recording of Brahms’s cello sonatas enters a crowded field but offers precious few insights. That said, the choice of song arrangements is judicious, as ...
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ReviewPhantasie. Brahms: Cello Sonata in E flat major op.120 no.2. Reger: Adagio from Suite no.1 for solo cello; Largo from Suite no.2 for solo cello. Schubert: Fantasie in C major D934; Sonatina in G minor
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Wispelwey embarks on the complete duos of Brahms and SchubertMusicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Paolo Giacometti (piano)Composer: Brahms, Reger, SchubertIt is inevitable that the status of ‘arrangements’ and ‘transcriptions’ of canonic works remains questionable to many, even when undertaken by a player ...
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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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ReviewAlvorada: Music by Falla, Granados, Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos and others
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Gaillard crosses the Atlantic to explore Latin American stylesMusicians: Ophélie Gaillard (cello) and friendsComposer: Falla, Granados, Piazzolla, Villa-LobosThis sumptuously packaged release on the elegant, niche French label Aparté is an ambitious undertaking: over 100 minutes of music across two discs, ...
