Book reviews – Page 136
-
ReviewLove — Innocence, Passion, Obsession. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major. Piazzolla: Milonga in D major. Pepa: Fantaisie bohémienne. Rota: Improvviso in D minor. Frolov: Concert Fantasy on Themes from G
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An unusual but enjoyable recital from a Toronto-based violinistMusicians: Lynn Kuo (violin) Marianna Humetska (piano)Composer: Franck, Pepa, Frolov, Piazzolla, RotaThis may be an oddly mixed collection, with Franck’s Romantic juggernaut, the Violin Sonata, joining slighter works of the past 50 years by ...
-
ReviewWalton: Symphony no.1, Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An impressive interpretation of the composer’s heartfelt concertoMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward GardnerComposer: WaltonTasmin Little introduces an extra dimension of meditation to the dreamy opening melody of Walton’s Violin Concerto, a mood that sets the scene for a heartfelt and often expansive account. There ...
-
ReviewBartók: Chamber works for violin vol.3: Contrasts, Sonatina (arr. Gertler), 44 Duos
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: James Ehnes continues to dazzle in his Bartók seriesMusicians: James Ehnes, Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin) Michael Collins (clarinet) Andrew Armstrong (piano)Composer: BartókThis third volume of James Ehnes’s survey of Bartók’s violin music opens with a performance of Contrasts marked by wonderful shaping, ...
-
ReviewBach: Solo Violin Sonatas no.2 in A minor BWV1003 & no.3 in C major BWV1005. Tartini: ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata (arr. Kreisler). Mozart: Violin Sonata in A major K526
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Fervent performances unearthed after over a half a centuryMusicians: Christian Ferras (violin) Pierre Barbizet (piano)Composer: Bach, Tartini, MozartA disc of Christian Ferras (1933–82) on the Meloclassic label devoted to unissued concert and broadcast performances by historical artists (in this case well recorded ...
-
ReviewExoticism. Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor op.9, Nocturne and Tarantella op.28, Song of Roxane (arr. Kocha?ski), Mythes op.30, Prelude op.1 no.1 in B minor (arr. Bacewicz)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Luxuriant accounts of the composer’s chamber music for violinMusicians: Jerzy Kaplanek (violin) Stéphan Sylvestre (piano)Composer: SzymanowskiSzymanowski’s violin music owes its very existence to his friend, violinist Pawel Kocha?ski. ‘I am indebted to him alone,’ the composer declared, ‘for imparting to me his profoundly ...
-
ReviewMusique romantique. Arensky: Quartet in A minor op.35 for violin, viola & two cellos. Sauter: Musique romantique for solo cello & string trio. Tchaikovsky: Andante cantabile for solo cello & string tr
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A satisfying programme of cello-led string worksMusicians: Ten Hagen Quartet, Matthias Bartolomey (cello)Composer: Arensky, Sauter, TchaikovskyThis well-thought-out and original CD has satisfying symmetry to it. Arensky’s Quartet, its middle movement a set of variations on Tchaikovsky’s ‘When Jesus Christ was but a ...
-
ReviewBritish Music for Cello and Piano. W. Busch: Suite for cello & piano. Leighton: Partita op.35. Wordsworth: Cello Sonata no.2. Cooke: Cello Sonata no.2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Valuable rediscoveries from the more conservative school of British compositionMusicians: Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Raphael Terroni (piano)Composer: Busch, Leighton, Wordsworth, CookeIt seems clear from the booklet notes that the composers featured on this enterprising and clearly recorded release were far too ...
-
ReviewVivaldi: The Four Seasons
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A performance of the concertos that can’t compete with the bestMusicians: Kati Debretzeni (violin/director) Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentComposer: VivaldiThis recording of the Four Seasons is essentially a spin-off from a collaborative project with Henri Oguike’s dancers, combining period performance and contemporary ...
-
ReviewHaydn: String Quartets op.20 no.1 in E flat major, no.3 in G minor & no.4 in D major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Refreshing accounts of early Haydn from a prize-winning ensembleMusicians: Tinalley QuartetComposer: HaydnThis recording opportunity formed part of the Australian Tinalley Quartet’s first prize in the ninth International Banff String Quartet Competition (2007). For various reasons the end product, captured in ...
-
ReviewSchubert: Violin Sonatas in D major D384, A minor D385 & G minor D408, Rondo in A major D438
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Sensitive accounts of four works from 1816Musicians: Sara Trickey (violin) Daniel Tong (piano) Callino QuartetComposer: SchubertIn order to improve sales of sheet music to amateur musicians, Schubert’s posthumous publisher downgraded the composer’s three violin sonatas to the less demanding medium of sonatina. In recent times ...
-
ReviewRubbra: Cello Sonata in G minor op.60. Rawsthorne: Cello Sonata in C major. Moeran: Cello Sonata in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A welcome instalment in the cellist’s ongoing exploration of British cello repertoireMusicians: Paul Watkins (cello) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Rubbra, Rawsthorne, MoeranVol.3 of Paul and Huw Watkins’s British Cello and Piano series takes us to the years of austerity immediately after World War ...
-
ReviewWhite Nights – Viola Music from St Petersburg, Vol. 2. Prokofiev: Pieces from Romeo and Juliet (selection, arr. Borisovsky). Banshikov: Viola Sonata. Shostakovich: Viola Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An enterprising disc in a series celebrating Russian viola musicMusicians: Tatjana Masurenko (viola) Roglit Ishay (piano)Composer: Prokofiev, Banshikov, ShostakovichThe three pieces on this CD make for a nicely varied programme by the St Petersburg-trained Tatjana Masurenko, viola professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in ...
-
ReviewMozart: Violin Concertos no.3 in G major K216, no.4 in D major K218 & no.5 in A major K219
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Accounts of the concertos for those who prefer a modern approachMusicians: Arabella Steinbacher (violin) Festival Strings Lucerne/Daniel DoddsComposer: MozartHaving largely built her recording career in the realm of 20th-century composers, Arabella Steinbacher returns to her roots and a work with which she first ...
-
ReviewMincek: String Quartet no.3 ‘lift–tilt–filter–split’. Rihm: Quartettstudie. Franzson: on Repetition and Reappearances. Lara: Corde vocale
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Swagger and style in an imaginative selection of contemporary worksMusicians: Mivos QuartetComposer: Mincek, Rihm, Franzson, LaraFormed in 2008, the New York-based Mivos Quartet already has a highly distinctive musical personality, demonstrated here in performances of edge-of-your-seat intensity, which still display a remarkable sense ...
-
ReviewThe Hidden Violin. Godard: Solo Violin Sonatas no.1 in B minor op.20 & no.2 in A minor. Sinding: Chaconne from Suite in D minor op.123. Vecsey: Preludio e Fuga in C minor. Joachim: Schottische Melodie
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Repertoire that reinforces the lure of Bach on solo violin writingMusicians: Vaughan Jones (violin)Composer: Godard, Sinding, Vecsey, Joachim, Saint-LubinThe majority of multi-movement works for solo violin are predominantly serious in tone and appear musically tongue-tied in deference to Bach’s towering sonata and ...
-
ReviewIl Violino Boemo. František Benda: Violin Sonatas in B flat major, C minor & A major (attrib. Carl Graun). Gurecký: Violin Sonata in D major. Jiránek: Violin Sonatas in F major & C major
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An enjoyable collection of 18th-century Bohemian violin sonatasMusicians: Lenka Torgersen (violin) Libor Mašek (cello) Václav Luks (harpsichord)Composer: František Benda, Gurecký, JiránekLenka Torgersen offers strong, meticulously prepared readings of these pieces, which display remarkable flair and imagination. Her articulation, smoothly contoured phrasing and ...
-
ReviewBeethoven: Complete String Quartets vol.3: Quartets in C minor op.18 no.4 & in F major op.59 no.1 (Rasumovsky), Grosse Fuge in B flat major op.133
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Beethoven with drive that barely lets upMusicians: Cremona QuartetComposer: BeethovenThere’s no shortage of bite or energy in the third instalment of the Cremona Quartet’s survey of Beethoven’s string quartets. The instruments speak with crisp articulation and the players don’t hold back in ...
-
ReviewYsaÿe: Sonatas for Solo Violin op.27
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Performances of substance from a young Chinese violinistMusicians: Tianwa Yang (violin)Composer: YsaÿeThere’s always the danger that violinists will get caught out by the mould-breaking technical invention of Ysaÿe’s visionary six solo sonatas. Or that, having surmounted their almost insuperable challenges, the ...
-
ReviewPurcell: 10 Sonatas in Four Parts
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Gems from the English Baroque played with grace and dexterityMusicians: The King’s Consort/Robert KingComposer: PurcellThe cover photograph of scattered diamonds feels entirely apt once you listen to the disc, for each of these works is indeed a jewel. Gathered together for ...
-
ReviewNordic Cello Soul. Sibelius: Andantino in C major, Andantino molto in F minor, Lulu Waltz in F sharp minor, Theme and variations. Lidholm: Quattro pezzi. Grieg: Intermezzo in A minor, Cello Sonata in
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: No revelations in this exploration of some byways of Nordic cello musicHampus Linderholm (cello) Mats JanssonMusicians: Hampus Linderholm (cello) Mats Jansson (piano)Composer: Sibelius, Lidholm, GriegEarly works by major composers are often hit or miss. Unfortunately, Sibelius’s juvenile cello works are entirely unexceptional: ...
