Book reviews – Page 126
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ReviewNew Seasons. Glass: Violin Concerto no.2 ‘The American Four Seasons’. Kancheli: Ex contrario. Pärt: Estonian Lullaby. Umebayashi: Yumeji’s Theme
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Kremer imbues contemporary fare with characteristic intensityMusicians: Kremerata Baltica/†¨Gidon Kremer (violin)Composer: Glass, Kancheli, Pärt, Umebayashi:Gidon Kremer’s propensity for imbuing everything he plays with contemporary emotional resonances continues to provide a refreshing slant on the classics of yesteryear. Yet it is as a ...
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ReviewCapriccioso. J.-L. Duport: Etude no.7. J.-P. Duport: Etude no.8. Piatti: Twelve Caprices; Capriccio sopra un tema della Niobe di Pacini. Popper: Etude no.29
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Meneses finds the musicality in a disc of cello studiesMusicians: Antonio Meneses (cello)Composer: J.-L. Duport, J.-P. Duport, Piatti, PopperA large percentage of this disc is devoted to Piatti’s Caprices, with the added bonus of his tour de force spectacular Capriccio sopra ...
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ReviewFranck: Violin Sonata in A major. R. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major; Allegretto in E major; Wiegenlied; Waldseligkeit; Morgen
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Thrills without spills in this pair of high-Romantic violin sonatasMusicians: James Ehnes (violin) †¨Andrew Armstrong (piano)Composer: Franck, R. Strauss:Some play the first movement of Franck’s Violin Sonata as a reverie; others give it impulse and purpose. James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong, a ...
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ReviewKing of Instruments; Instrument of Kings. Darke: Violin Sonata no.1 in E minor. Pantcheff: Sonata for Violin and Organ. Sumsion: Violin Sonata in E minor
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Twenties sonatas by a pair of church-music composersMusicians: Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) †¨Duncan Honeybourne (piano/organ)Composer: Darke, Pantcheff, SumsionHerbert Sumsion and Harold Darke are probably best known for their liturgical music. Their violin sonatas are early works, both for the composers and for the ...
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ReviewBerlioz: Harold en Italie; Intrata di Rob-Roy Macgregor; Rêverie et Caprice
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Ehnes switches from violin to viola in Berlioz’s Byronic vistasMusicians: James Ehnes (violin/viola) Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Andrew DavisComposer: BerliozBerlioz’s mighty ‘symphony with solo viola’ Harold in Italy is preceded on this carefully planned disc by the composer’s only work for violin, Rêverie et ...
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ReviewBritish Works for Cello and Piano Vol.4. Bennett: Cello Sonata. Hoddinott: Cello Sonata no.2. Leighton: Partita. Lutyens: Constants
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Sterling advocacy for four sonatas of the past centuryMusicians: Paul Watkins (cello) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Bennett, Hoddinott, Leighton, LutyensThis brilliantly recorded disc showcases some works from the grittier side of British music from the second half of the 20th century. Each of ...
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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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ReviewBach & Beyond Vol.2. Bach: Solo Violin Sonata BWV1001; Solo Violin Partita BWV1002 BARTÓK Sonata for Solo Violin SAARIAHO Frises
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Authoritative readings of music old and new – and newishMusicians: Jennifer Koh (violin)Composer: BachThere’s a feeling of power in reserve about Jennifer Koh’s playing, which is never louder than lovely, and underneath the sleekly sustained lines and discreetly tapered phrase-ends is the ...
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ReviewBartók: Violin Concerto no.2. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Description: Sparkling Mendelssohn and the best Bartók Second for agesMusicians: Augustin Hadelich (violin) Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Miguel Harth-BedoyaComposer: Bartók, MendelssohnAugustin Hadelich has won acclaim for playing and programming, his 2014 Sibelius/Adès disc becoming one of the ‘Top Classical Albums of the Year’ in the New York Times. I can’t ...
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ReviewSmetana: String Quartets: no.1 in E minor ‘From My Life’; no.2 in D minor
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Solid Smetana from the award-winning Czech string quartetMusicians: Pavel Haas QuartetComposer: SmetanaRecording the two Smetana quartets is a rite of passage for any Czech ensemble, and the Pavel Haas Quartet – already a prize winner for its recordings of Janácek ...
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ReviewCzerny: Four String Quartets
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Rediscovered quartets by a famed follower of BeethovenMusicians: Sheridan EnsembleComposer: CzernyThat Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny (1791–1857) was a consummate master of the string quartet genre is hardly astonishing. Some readers might be surprised, however, that the recent rediscovery of the ...
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ReviewBach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord BWV1014–19
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: September 2015Description: Experiment and sensitivity in Bach’s accompanied violin sonatasMusicians: Lucy Russell (violin) John Butt (harpsichord)Composer: BachIntellectual challenge and a spirit of Empfindsamkeit animate these magnificent new recordings of the sonatas that Bach wrote in his first five years as Kapellmeister in ...
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ReviewYsaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Ibragimova’s personal and introspective view of Ysaÿe’s solo sonatasMusicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin)Composer: YsaÿeAlina Ibragimova is one of today’s most unassuming virtuoso violinists, her approach to Ysaÿe’s sonatas offering a perfect foil to those performances seeking to thrill with a show ...
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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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ReviewThe Great Violins vol.1: Andrea Amati 1570, Telemann: 12 Fantasies for Violin; 12 Fantasies for Flute
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Sheppard Skærved’s new series presents Telemann fantasias on a 1570 AmatiMusicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin)Composer: TelemannPeter Sheppard Skærved revisits Telemann’s twelve violin fantasias in a new project focusing on ‘The Great Violins’. This time, though, he plays a gut-strung 1570 Andrea Amati ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quintet in C major D956
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: The Kuijkens on modern instruments in period styleMusicians: Kuijken Quartet, Michel Boulanger (cello)Composer: SchubertLong associated with period-instrument performance, the Kuijken family here employs instruments with modern set-ups and accessories. However, these players’ attempts to recapture the style and spirit of Schubert’s era ...
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ReviewThe Ground Beneath Our Feet. Reich: Duet. Bach: Concerto in C minor for Violin and Oboe BWV1060R. Stravinsky: Dumbarton Oaks. Jacobsen/Aghael: Concerto for Santur, Violin and Orchestra. The Knights: .
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: August 2015Description: East–West fusion from an ensemble that pushes boundariesMusicians: The KnightsComposer: Reich, Bach, Stravinsky, Jacobsen/Aghael, The KnightsThe Knights are an ‘orchestral collective’ based in New York and led by brothers Colin (violin) and Eric (cello) Jacobsen, best known as members of ...
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ReviewGubaidulina: String quartets nos.1–4; Reflections on the Theme B–A–C–H; Piano Quintet; String Trio; Rejoice!
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Vivid, intense playing in Gubaidulina’s chamber musicMusicians: Molinari Quartet, Louise Bessette (piano)Composer: GubaidulinaCurrently quartet-in-residence at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music, Canadian foursome the Molinari Quartet’s double-disc survey of string chamber music by Tatar-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina makes for exhausting listening, and it’s probably ...
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ReviewGlass: Partita; Knee 2 from Einstein on the Beach; Book of Longing; Interludes from Violin Concerto no.2
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Glass’s ambitious solo Partita performed by its dedicateeMusicians: Tim Fain (violin)Composer: GlassPhilip Glass’s imprimatur is all over this disc – he co-founded and is executive producer of the record label that has issued it;he wrote the 2011 Partita specially for the young ...
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ReviewGrieg: Cello Sonata in A minor op.36. Hough: Sonata for Cello and Piano Left Hand ‘Les adieux’. Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata no.2 in D major op.58
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: Authoritative musicianship from Isserlis and Hough in Romantic sonatasMusicians: Steven Isserlis (cello) Stephen Hough (piano)Composer: Grieg, Hough, MendelssohnGrieg’s Cello Sonata encompasses a wide-ranging emotional landscape, to which Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough, a magnificent partnership, respond with big-hearted playing. Isserlis is good ...
