Book reviews – Page 134
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94a, Sonata for Two Violins op.56, Five Melodies op.35
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Fiery performances that lack the last ounce of spontaneityMusicians: Natalia Lomeiko, Yuri Zhislin (violin) Olga Sitkovetsky (piano)Composer: ProkofievCatalogue Number: Atoll ACD 513Bringing together the charismatic artistry of Natalia Lomeiko with the music of Prokofiev is an enticing prospect, and in many respects this ...
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ReviewModerato cantabile. Gurdjieff: Sayyid Chant and Dance no.3, Night Procession. Gurdjieff/Mompou: Fêtes lointaines no.3. Komitas: Chinar es. Mompou: Canción y danza VI, Música callada/Impresiones intima
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: A cello recital marked by a chilled-out homogeneity of moodMusicians: Anja Lechner (cello) François Couturier (piano)Composer: Gurdjieff, Komitas, Mompou, CouturierCatalogue Number: ECM 481 0992Mixing music both spiritual and folksy from three musical outsiders, with performers bringing together jazz and classical worlds, this ...
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ReviewBerlioz: Harold en Italie (arr. Liszt). Liszt: Nuages gris, Romance oubliée, Oh quand je dors, Schlaflos! Frage und Antwort
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: An unusual programme that gives a new context for Berlioz's viola-led symphonyMusicians: Jennifer Stumm (viola) Elizabeth Pridgen (piano)Composer: Berlioz, LisztCatalogue Number: Orchid Classics ORC 100044In her engaging booklet notes, Jennifer Stumm makes an eloquent case both for Berlioz’s Byronic epic Harold in ...
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ReviewFranck: Sonata in A major. Grieg: Violin Sonata no.3 in C minor op.45. Dvorák: Four Romantic Pieces op.75
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: A classy partnership at work in three Romantic masterpiecesMusicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)Composer: Franck, Grieg, DvorákCatalogue Number: Erato 0825646250189This high-profile partnership naturally prompts expectations to match and, in the main, the French violinist and Georgian pianist fulfil their promise. Renaud ...
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ReviewBach: Suites for solo cello nos.1—6 BWV1007—12
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: An idiosyncratic and sometimes rash take on Bach€™s cycle of suitesMusicians: Nina Kotova (cello)Composer: BachCatalogue Number: Warner Classics 0825646394111 (two discs)Baroque music has not hitherto loomed large in the career of Nina Kotova, and while there is much to enjoy here, a few more ...
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ReviewJanácek: String Quartets no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ & no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’, Piano Concertino
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Another entrant into a crowded field that manages to make its own markMusicians: Prážak Quartet, Slávka PÄ›choÄová -Vernerová (piano) Milan Polák (clarinet) Lukáš Korínek (bassoon) Jan Voboril (horn)Composer: JanácekCatalogue Number: Praga Digitals PRD/DSD 250301Holding back from the overstated dynamics that have ...
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ReviewAyres: Ultradian Rhythms
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Ambient string-orchestra sounds from a single player-composerMusicians: Marvin Ayres (violin/viola/cello/double bass)Composer: AyresCatalogue Number: Wall of Waves Records wow101British Minimalist composer, producer and sound artist Marvin Ayres uses stringed instruments and new sound recording technology to create luxuriant ambient music. Inspired by natural ...
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ReviewZemlinsky: String Quartets vol.2: no.1 in A major op.4 & no.2 op.15
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Lustrous performances of music by a key figure of Viennese musical lifeMusicians: Escher QuartetComposer: ZemlinskyCatalogue Number: Naxos 8.573088This disc completes the Escher Quartet’s Zemlinsky cycle so effectively begun a year ago with recordings of the later two quartets (reviewed October ...
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ReviewMozart: String Quartets in G major K387, E flat major K428 & C major K465 ‘Dissonance’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Polished accounts of three of Mozart's 'Haydn' quartetsMusicians: Casals QuartetComposer: MozartCatalogue Number: HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 902186This triptych of Mozart performances is of the highest calibre, captured by a close recording whose revealing detail exposes no weakness among the players. Unanimity ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Cello Sonatas, Horn Sonata in F major op.17, Twelve Variations on ‘See, the conqu’ring hero comes’, Twelve Variations on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’, Seven Variations on ‘Bei Männern welche
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: November 2014Description: A set that brings together everything Beethoven wrote, and arranged, for cello and pianoMusicians: Fischer Duo: Norman Fischer (cello) Jeanne Kierman (piano)Composer: BeethovenCatalogue Number: CENTAUR CRC 3322/23/24/25 (FOUR DISCS)This set is not just complete, it is very complete indeed. No ...
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ReviewPer Monsieur Pisendel 2. Pisendel: Violin Sonata in C minor, Solo Violin Sonata in A minor. Vivaldi: Suonate Á solo in A major & in F major. Montanari: Violin Sonata in D minor. Albinoni: Violin Sona
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: A worthy sequel to an earlier disc of Baroque violin sonatasMusicians: Members of La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler (violin/director)Composer: Pisendel, Vivaldi, Montanari, AlbinoniCatalogue Number: Avie AV 2308United by the music’s association with Johann Pisendel, this follow-up to La Serenissima’s first volume from over a ...
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ReviewMontsalvatge: Paráfrasis concertante, Lullaby, Spanish Sketch, Tres policromías, Variaciones sobre un tema de ‘La Spagnoletta’ de Giles Farnaby, Piano Trio
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Welcome exposure for the music of a 20th-century Spanish masterMusicians: Eva León (violin) José Ramos Santana (piano) Sibylle Johner (cello)Composer: Montsalvatge:Catalogue Number: NAXOS 8.572621With over 200 works of his to explore, very few of which are at all well known, Xavier Montsalvatge ...
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ReviewTelemann: Violin Sonatas (Frankfurt 1715), Ouverture in G minor from ‘Der getreue Music-Meister’
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Broadly successful performances of the composer’s accompanied sonatasMusicians: Stephan Schardt (violin) Elisabeth Wand (cello) Sonja Kemnitzer (harpsichord)Composer: TelemannStephan Schardt and his colleagues give accomplished accounts of Telemann’s six Frankfurt sonatas, exposing the varied elements of the composer’s mixed style with flair and ...
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ReviewYsaÿe: 6 Sonatas for solo violin op.27, Sonata for 2 violins in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A ravishing disc of Belgian masterpiecesMusicians: Tedi Papavrami, Svetlin Roussev (violins)Composer: YsaÿeYsaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin have witnessed a surge of popularity in recent years, at least if the number of recordings is anything to go by, including notable versions by ...
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ReviewPoème. Ysaÿe: Poème élégiaque op.12, Extase op.21. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A ravishing disc of Belgian masterpiecesMusicians: Lisa Jacobs (violin) Ksenia Kouzmenko (piano)Composer: Ysaÿe, FranckLisa Jacobs (who plays the piano-accompanied version of the Poème élégiaque, alongside the op.21 Extase), emphasises the music’s impassioned eloquence with a cantabile of beguiling radiance.The stand-out performance here ...
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ReviewUncovered
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An adventurous solo cellist ventures into rock and BluesMusicians: Maya Beiser (cello)Composer: Rock, BluesIsraeli–American cellist and composer’s muse Maya Beiser has a significant body of work as a recording artist. Her project-based albums have included world music, a visual art collaboration and ...
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ReviewSaint-Saëns: Cello Concertos nos.1 & 2, La muse et le poète op.132, Allegro appassionato op.43, The Swan
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A powerfully played collection of the composer’s works for cello and orchestraMusicians: Natalie Clein (cello) Antje Weithaas (violin) Julia Lynch, Judith Kearey (piano) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew ManzeComposer: Saint-SaënsA new recording by Natalie Clein is always an event – her last was ...
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ReviewHindemith: Viola Sonata op.11 no.4, Solo Viola Sonatas op.25 no.1 & op.11 no.5, Trauermusik
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: A largely well-played collection of some of Hindemith€™s viola worksMusicians: Jitka Hosprová (viola) Jitka ÄŒechová (piano) Prague Chamber OrchestraComposer: Hindemith Catalogue Number: Supraphon SU 4147-2Arriving at the tail-end of numerous recordings marking last year’s 50th anniversary of Paul Hindemith’s death, this CD presents some ...
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ReviewLoussier: Concerto no.1 for violin & percussion, Concerto no.2 for violin & tabla. Paderewski: Violin Sonata in A minor op.133
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: An unusual combination of composers and styles has its momentsMusicians: Adam Kostecki (violin/conductor) Piotr Iwicki (percussion) Gunther Hauer (piano) Polish Philharmonic Chamber OrchestraComposer: Loussier, PaderewskiCatalogue Number: Naxos 8.573200While the bizarre combination of repertoire on this curiously programmed disc makes for somewhat perplexing ...
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ReviewBarber: Cello Sonata op.6. Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19. Piazzolla: Le grand tango
The Strad Issue: November 2014Description: Inflexibility lets down performances of three highly charged cello works Musicians: Adolfo Gutiérrez (cello) Luis Fernando Pérez (piano)Composer: Barber, Rachmaninoff, PiazzollaCatalogue Number: Verso VRS 2010 United by a loosely based notion of Romanticism as an elevation of expressiveness, these three works nevertheless ...
