Book reviews – Page 141
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat major op.44 no.3, Octet in E flat major op.20, Four Pieces for String Quartet op.81 nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Satisfying quartet playing, but a diffuse account of the OctetMusicians: Mandelring Quartet, Cremona QuartetComposer: MendelssohnComposed for the virtuoso Ferdinand David in the first violin’s chair, the third of Mendelssohn’s op.44 quartets is more technically demanding than most violin concertos from the first half of the 19th ...
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ReviewFantasy and Farewell. McLean: Suite. Schumann: Märchenbilder op.113 (arr. McLean). Shostakovich: Viola Sonata op.147 (arr. V. Mendelssohn)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Three unrelated viola works performed with varying successMusicians: Roger Myers (viola) London Symphony Orchestra/Michael FrancisComposer: McLean, Schumann, ShostakovichMichael McLean’s Suite for viola and orchestra was written in 2008 for Roger Myers at whose request the composer took Bach’s chorale ‘Befiehl du deine ...
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ReviewRomantic Duos. Liszt: Grand duo concertant, Consolation no.3 (arr. Milstein). Bridge: Violin Sonata, Romanze, Heart’s Ease. Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An unusual collection performed by an assured duo Husband-and-wife duoMusicians: Benjamin Schmid (violin) Ariane Haering (piano)Composer: Liszt, Bridge, GriegBenjamin Schmid and Ariane Haering are a formidable pairing who live and breathe these scores as one, matching even the most subtle of dynamic and ...
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ReviewMétamorphoses nocturnes. Ligeti: String quartets no.1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ & no.2, Sonata for solo cello
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Assured but over-safe accounts of Ligeti’s fantastical creationsMusicians: Béla QuartetComposer: LigetiThe four young French players of the Béla Quartet make great play of the unbridled fantasy and mischievous humour in Ligeti’s music in their introductory booklet notes to this enjoyable release, so it comes ...
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ReviewPaganini: 24 Caprices op.1. Paganini Unpublished. Paganini: Six Sonatinas, Sonata with Variations, Four Studies
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Knowns and unknowns explored in two new Paganini releasesMusicians: Yehonatan Berick (violin) Stefano Delle Donne (violin) Marco Scicli (viola) Damiano Puliti (cello) Adriano Sebastiani (guitar)Composer: PaganiniYehonatan Berick’s Paganini Caprices (packaged with both DVD and Blu-Ray discs) offer little in terms of innovation, ...
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ReviewPenderecki: Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, Per Slava, Violoncello totale, Suite. Xenakis: Kottos, Nomos alpha
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Contrasting sound worlds from two modern mastersMusicians: Wiktor Kociuban (cello)Composer: Penderecki, XenakisWith two major contemporary composers named prominently on its cover, you might expect young Polish cellist Wiktor Kociuban’s stimulating CD to hold an hour of predictably thorny, challenging music. In fact, it’s very much ...
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ReviewKorngold: String Sextet op.101, Suite op.232
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Generally successful performances of Korngold chamber worksMusicians: Aron Quartet, Thomas Selditz (viola) MÁ rius Diaz (cello) Henri Sigfridsson (piano)Composer: KorngoldLike the Doric Quartet before it (Chandos; see reviews in November 2010 and May 2012), the Aron Quartet builds on the success of its own ...
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ReviewHindemith: Variations on ‘A Frog He Went A-Courting’, Sonata for solo cello op.25 no.3, Three Pieces op.8, Cello Sonata op.11 no.3
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Rather over-earnest and dynamically flat performances of Hindemith’s cello musicMusicians: Judith Ermert (cello) Daan Vandewalle (piano)Composer: HindemithHindemith has often been admired as a supreme contrapuntalist and for his remarkable musical mind, but the Variations on ‘A Frog He Went A-Courting’ reveal him in a more whimsical ...
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ReviewSchuppanzigh Quartet: Haydn
String Quartets in G major op.54 no.1, C major op.20 no.2 & G minor op.74 no.3
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ReviewAnne-Sophie Mutter: Dvorák Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto in A minor op.531, Romance in F minor op.112, Mazurek in E minor op.493, Humoresque in G flat op.101 no.7 (arr. Kreisler)
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ReviewVenezia Quartet: Casella, Turchi
Casella: Concerto per archi op.40, Cinque pezzi op.34. Turchi: Concerto breve
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ReviewRick Stotijn: Basso Bailando
Piazzolla: Cuatro estaciones porteñas (arr. van Prooijen). Rota: Divertimento concertanto. Falla: Siete canciones populares espanolas (arr. van Prooijen)
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ReviewTianwa Yang, Markus Hadulla: Works by Sarasate
Souvenirs de Faust, transcriptions & arrangements of works by Moszkowski, Chopin, Guignon, Mondonville, Leclair, Handel, Senaillé, Bach & Raff
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ReviewJoel Quarrington, David Jalbert: Brothers in Brahms
Brahms: Violin Sonata no.1 in G major op.78 (arr. Quarrington). Schumann: Adagio and Allegro op.70 (arr. Quarrington). Fuchs: Double Bass Sonata op.97
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ReviewLeonidas Kavakos: Brahms & Bartók
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.771, Hungarian Dances nos.1, 2, 6 & 11 (arr. Joachim). Bartók: Rhapsodies nos.1 & 23
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ReviewJanine Jansen: Bach Concertos
Violin Concertos in A minor BWV1041 & E major BWV1042, Concerto for violin & oboe in C minor BWV1060, Violin Sonatas no.3 in E major BWV1016 & no.4 in C minor BWV1017
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ReviewMozart: Violin Concertos no.3 in G major K216 & no.4 in D major K218, Violin Sonata in A major K305
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Characterful performances from a starry young performerMusicians: Ray Chen (violin) Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach (piano)Composer: Mozart Taiwan-born, Australian-raised violinist Ray Chen has turned to Mozart for his third release with Sony. Chen may be well-groomed and ...
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ReviewBritten: String Quartets nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A new touchstone in an economical one-disc collection of Britten’s three numbered quartetsMusicians: Takács QuartetComposer: Britten Having passed through a period when I favoured the exceptionally dramatic view of Britten’s three quartets from the Belcea Quartet (EMI), I found ...
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ReviewBritten: String Quartets nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A new touchstone in an economical one-disc collection of Britten’s three numbered quartetsMusicians: Takács QuartetComposer: BrittenHaving passed through a period when I favoured the exceptionally dramatic view of Britten’s three quartets from the Belcea Quartet (EMI), I found more to enjoy with ...
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ReviewA Violino Solo. Works by Baltzar, Vilsmayr, Westhoff, Biber, Bach & Telemann
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Balanced collection of German Baroque music for solo violinMusicians: Thibault Noally (violin)Composer: Baltzar, Vilsmayr, Westhoff, Biber, Bach, Telemann Thibault Noally’s unpretentious period-instrument accounts of unaccompanied works by six 17th- and 18th-century German polyphonists display technical command and communicative musicianship. Baltzar’s brief Praeludium ...
