Book reviews – Page 144
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94b, Three Pieces from Romeo and Juliet op.64 (arr. Grjunes)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Accounts of Prokofiev that don’t quite hit the markMusicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin) Angela Yoffe (piano)Composer: Prokofiev Angela Yoffe introduces Prokofiev’s First Sonata in world-weary mood, but Vadim Gluzman eventually lifts the gloom with a delicate and wispy tracery. There are recordings of ...
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ReviewPerle: String Quartets no.2 in D minor op.14, no.5 & no.8 ‘Windows of Order’, Molto adagio
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Music for quartet from an American twelve-note pioneerMusicians: Daedalus QuartetComposer: Perle The music of highly regarded American composer George Perle (1915–2009, perhaps best remembered for his writings on Alban Berg) is not heard frequently on the ...
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ReviewTwentieth-century sonatas for cello and piano. Works by Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Consummate playing that mines a rich seam of British cello repertoireMusicians: Alexander Baillie (cello) John Thwaites (piano)Composer: Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys This release of 20th-century British cello sonatas, recorded over a six-day period ...
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ReviewMunch Suite. Pieces for solo violin by Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinsson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Kovác, Thommessen & Petitgirard
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An appealing presentation of modern music and fine artMusicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin)Composer: Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinuson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Ková?, Thommessen & PetitgirardThe organisers of Norway’s Vestfold International Festival in 2010 commissioned 15 new solo violin pieces for ...
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ReviewD. Matthews: Music for Solo Violin vol.1: Three Studies op.39, 15 Fugues op.88, Winter Journey op.32
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Solo violin works that run the gamut of technique and expressionMusicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin)Composer: D. MatthewsThis disc represents roughly half of David Matthews’s output for solo violin and highlights the composer’s insight into writing for the instrument, despite not being a player himself. ...
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ReviewKuusisto: Violin Concerto op.28, Leika op.24. Corigliano: Violin Concerto ‘The Red Violin’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Passionate accounts of two modern violin concertosMusicians: Elina Vähälä (violin) Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Jaakko KuusistoComposer: Kuusisto, Corigliano Jaakko Kuusisto originally conceived his Violin Concerto for himself, but then handed it over, and dedicated it, to Elina Vähälä. It follows a ...
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ReviewHandel's Concerti grossi op.6
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A novel approach to instrumentation can’t make up for lacklustre playingMusicians: Arcadia Ensemble/Kevin Mallon (violin/director)Composer: HandelThis take on Handel’s op.6 concerto grosso set from this Toronto-based period-instrument ensemble not only includes the composer’s oboe parts for nos.1, 2, 5 and 6, but also ...
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ReviewGlière: Complete Duets with Cello: Eight Duets for violin and cello op.39, Ballade for cello and piano op.4, Ten Duets for two cellos op.53, Twelve Album Leaves for cello and piano op.51
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Committed accounts of duos for various combinationsMusicians: MartinuRummel, Alexander Hülshoff (cello) Friedemann Eichhorn (violin) Till Alexander Körber (piano)Composer: Glière As Reinhold Glière was a student of Arensky and Taneyev, it’s little wonder that he was steeped ...
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ReviewEnescu: Piano Quintet op.29, Piano Trio in A minor, Aria and Scherzino
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Rare chamber works in scintillating performancesMusicians: Schubert Ensemble, Remus Azoitei (violin)Composer: EnescuEnescu wrote much music that he never heard or never had published, and manuscripts of long-lost chamber works still appear from time to time. Of the three pieces here, only the ...
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ReviewPolish Violin Music. Works by Zarzycki, Noskowski, Drozdzewski, Górecki, Paderewski, Lutoslawski & Lipinski
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A fascinating traversal of a century and a half of virtuoso music from PolandMusicians: Kinga Augustyn (violin) Efi Hackmey (piano)Composer: Zarzycki, Noskowski, Drozdzewski, Górecki, Paderewski, Lutoslawski & Lipinski Five of these short works here receive world-premiere recordings. Aleksander ...
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ReviewBrahms: Viola Sonata in F minor op.120 no.1. Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 (arr. viola). Franck: Violin Sonata in A major (arr. viola)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A viola disc making a good case for ‘borrowing’ sonatas from other instrumentsMusicians: Tabea Zimmermann (viola) Kirill Gerstein (piano)Composer: Brahms, Schubert, FranckThese sonatas were written for other instruments, but two of them have long been incorporated into the viola’s repertoire, and most violists ...
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ReviewBloch: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2 ‘Poème mystique’, Nigun from Baal Shem. Pärt: Fratres
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Persuasive accounts of the Swiss composer’s violin masterpiecesMusicians: Elsa Grether (violin) Ferenc Vizi (piano) Composer: Bloch, PärtErnest Bloch’s Second Violin Sonata takes the listener on an exotic, dramatic musical journey. It is music well suited to the sensitivity of the young French violinist ...
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ReviewBerg: String Quartet op.3. Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major op.74. Bartók: String Quartet no.1 op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A welcome new release of a great ensemble’s early concert appearanceMusicians: Tokyo QuartetComposer: Berg, Beethoven, Bartók No sooner do we wave farewell to the Tokyo Quartet than it appears on CD back at the beginning again. This is a recital ...
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ReviewBeethoven's Violin Sonatas (complete)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A Beethoven sonata survey that doesn’t quite match the best availableMusicians: Barbara Govatos (violin) Marcantonio Barone (piano)Composer: Beethoven Seasoned Philadelphia-based duo Barbara Govatos and Marcantonio Barone chart the course of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with firm musical values and remarkably accomplished ...
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ReviewYsaÿe: Six Sonatas op.27
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Irreproachable interpretations of Ysaÿe’s solo violin masterpiecesMusicians: Kristóf Baráti (violin)Composer: YsaÿeKristóf Baráti is recorded with exemplary presence in a seductively enveloping acoustic – it feels as though the young Hungarian violinist is standing in the room with you, and the range of dynamics and ...
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ReviewHindemith: Violin Concerto, Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertmusik op.50
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Starry advocacy of a neglected 20th-century violin concertoMusicians: Midori (violin) NDR Symphony Orchestra/Christoph EschenbachComposer: HindemithWe hear far too little of Midori on disc nowadays, so it is especially welcome that she has chosen a work that despite distinguished advocacy on disc from ...
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ReviewAmerican Anthem. Barber: String Quartet op.11, Serenade for string quartet op.1, Dover Beach op.3. Hanson: String Quartet op.23, Concerto da camera op.7. Thompson: Alleluia
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A rewarding programme of American music based around the string quartetMusicians: Ying Quartet, Adam Neiman (piano) Randall Scarlata (baritone)Composer: Barber, Hanson, ThompsonThe starting point of this homage to American chamber music is Barber’s op.11 String Quartet, the second movement of ...
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ReviewSaint-Saëns: Piano Quartet in B flat major op.41, Barcarolle in F major op.108, Piano Quintet in A minor op.14
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Gentle accounts performed with Romantic relishMusicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano)Composer: Saint-SaënsThe Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz find much that is gentle amid the hot-bloodedness of Saint-Saëns’s chamber music. The opening of the B flat major Piano Quartet is seductive, and the ...
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ReviewPrevin: Two Little Serenades. Gould Bassoon Sonata (arr. ?mietana). Bach: Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Impeccable technique and intonation in a wide-ranging recitalMusicians: Alicja ?mietana (violin) Evelyne Berezovsky (piano) Composer: Previn, Gould (arr. ?mietana), Bach, PärtThis is the type of programme we hear all too often as young performers seek to show that they are ...
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ReviewParry: String Quartet no.3 in G major, String Quintet in E flat major
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Admirably clear performances in two world-premiere recordingsMusicians: Bridge Quartet, Robert Gibbs (viola) Composer: ParryParry produced his Third String Quartet in 1878. It was performed two years later and eventually disappeared, to be found in the papers of Gerald Finzi in 1992. This is the first ...
