Book reviews – Page 147
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ReviewLeclair: Violin Sonatas op.2: no.1 in E minor, no.2 in F major, no.3 in C major, no.4 in A major, no.5 in G major & no.8 in D major
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Sensitive accounts of 18th-century sonatasMusicians: Adrian Butterfield (violin) Jonathan Manson (viola da gamba) Laurence Cummings (harpsichord)Composer: Leclair This trio offers intelligent, idiomatic performances of sonatas from Leclair’s second book, which demonstrates a striking synthesis of Italian melodiousness and French elegance. Adrian Butterfield ...
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ReviewGodowsky: 12 Impressions, Waltz Poems nos.1 & 2, Avowal, Alt-Wien (arr.Heifetz), Night in Tangier (arr. Kreisler)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An enterprising collection celebrating a great pianist–composer’s violinistic connectionsMusicians: Nazrin Rashidova (violin) Roderick Chadwick (piano)Composer: GodowskyLeopold Godowsky is principally celebrated as one of the finest pianist–composers of the early 20th century, yet his violinist connections and admirers were no less exemplary. Avowal ...
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ReviewBritish Violin Sonatas vol.1. Ferguson: Violin Sonata no.2 op.10. Britten: Suite op.6. Walton: Violin Sonata, Two Pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A new survey of British violin repertoire begins in fine styleMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) Piers Lane (piano)Composer: Ferguson, Britten, WaltonFeeling out of sympathy with modern trends, Howard Ferguson (1908–99) decided to abandon composition at the mid-point of his life – an acute ...
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ReviewDuphly: Ouverture, La du Tailly, La de Valmalette, La de May, La Madin, La de Casaubon. Mozart: Violin Sonatas K6–9
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: The violin holds its ground as ‘accompaniment’ in Duphly and early MozartMusicians: Stéphanie-Marie Degand (violin) Violaine Cochard (harpsichord)Composer: DuphlyOn paper the coupling of character pieces by Jacques Duphly (one of Paris’s most renowned harpsichordists during the instrument’s so-called golden age) with Mozart’s ...
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ReviewChonguri. Works by Tsintsadze, Bach, Cassadó, Chopin, Webern, Fauré, Liszt, Milhaud & Demenga
The Strad Issue: January 2013Musicians: Thomas Demenga (cello) Thomas Larcher (piano) Teodoro Anzellotti (accordion)Composer: Tsintsadze, Bach, Cassadó, Chopin, Webern, Fauré, Liszt, Milhaud & DemengaIn this exceptionally clear and warm recording, Thomas Demenga proves once again that he is a cellist adept at mixing the old with the ...
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ReviewDale: Suite in D major op.2, Phantasy op.4, Introduction and Andante op.5
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Quality rather than quantity marks a superb disc of neglected viola musicMusicians: Yuko Inoue (viola) Stephen Coombs (piano) RAM Viola SextetComposer: DaleWhat a wonderful composer Benjamin Dale was. In the words of his composition teacher at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), ...
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ReviewBruch: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor op.26, Scottish Fantasy op.46, Romance in F major op.85 (arr. Braunstein)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A Bruch disc with too many caveats to enjoy the music to the fullMusicians: Guy Braunstein (violin) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Ion MarinComposer: Bruch, Bruch arr.BraunsteinSoon to step down from his role as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic to pursue a solo career, Guy ...
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ReviewBen-Haim: Piano Quartet op.4, Clarinet Quintet op.31a, Two Landscapes op.27, Canzonetta op.34 no.4, Improvisation and Dance op.30
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Landmark recordings of neglected mid-20th-century musicMusicians: ARC EnsembleComposer: Ben-HaimIn concert and on disc, the ARC Ensemble of Toronto, formed by members of the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, has made a feature of music composed in exile. The group’s first ...
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ReviewBax: Sonatina in D major, Rhapsodic Ballad, Folk-Tale, Legend–Sonata in F sharp minor
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Welcome exposure for some rarely heard British cello repertoireMusicians: Lionel Handy (cello) Nigel Clayton (piano)Composer: BaxThis disc features the entire solo cello and cello–piano output of Arnold Bax, apart from the 1923 Sonata in E flat major. The earliest piece, the Folk-Tale, ...
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ReviewAll Hands on Deck. Music by Waller, Carmichael, Jolson, etc
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Violin playing worthy of Grappelli on a disc of pre-war swing tunesMusicians: Man OverboardComposer: VariousA five-piece outfit dedicated to playing swing tunes of the 1920s and 30s, Man Overboard features Louisa Jones on vocals, clarinettist Ewan Bleach, guitarist Jean-Marie Fagon ...
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ReviewImages. Marais: Pièces for viola da gamba and theorbo
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Beautifully characterised performances of Marais’s gamba piecesMusicians: Mieneke van der Velden (viola da gamba) Fred Jacobs (French theorbo)Composer: MaraisPublished between 1686 and 1725, Marais’s five books of bass viol pieces reflect the changing tastes of his time, not least because ...
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ReviewBartók: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Highly successful accounts of two very different concertos from the same penMusicians: Isabelle Faust (violin) Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: BartókBartók’s two violin concertos exemplify the stylistic jolt that many composers experienced in attempting to bridge the creative chasm between ...
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ReviewWolf: String Quartet in D minor, Intermezzo in E flat major, Italian Serenade in G major
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Sometimes grim but often powerful music from a troubled late RomanticMusicians: Hugo Wolf QuartetComposer: WolfHow convenient that the complete quartet music of Hugo Wolf fits neatly on to one CD (six seconds short of an hour on this one). The eponymous quartet ...
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ReviewRecital
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: The iconoclastic violinist explores his musical rootsMusicians: Nigel Kennedy (violin) and ensembleComposer: VariousFor this album, Nigel Kennedy has chosen to revisit the music he grew up with – swing, Bach, reggae and more – and so perhaps it’s appropriate that he’s gone ...
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ReviewShostakovich: String Quartets nos.9–12. Weinberg: String Quartet no.6
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Performances that evoke both 19th-century tradition and 20th-century realitiesMusicians: Pacifica QuartetComposer: Shostakovich, WeinbergThe third and penultimate volume in the Pacifica Quartet’s distinguished Shostakovich cycle (revealingly subtitled ‘The Soviet Experience’) boasts the same sense of emotional imperativeness that distinguished the previous instalments. Some ...
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ReviewA. Romberg: Violin Concerto no.3 in D minor op.461, Violin Sonata no.3 in G minor op.322, Don Mendoza Overture op.363 B. Romberg: Cello Concerto no.2 in D major op.34, Divertimento on Austrian Folkson
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Well-played accounts of two concertos, despite a missing cadenzaMusicians: Yury Revich (violin) Lionel Cottet (cello) Federico Diaz (guitar) Hof Symphony Orchestra/Luca BizzozeroComposer: A. Romberg, B. RombergThis disc features the work of the Romberg cousins – violinist Andreas (1767–1821) and cellist Bernhard (1767–1841). ...
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ReviewOnslow: Cello Sonatas op.16: no.1 in F major, no.2 in C minor & no.3 in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Tasteful accounts of rarely heard sonatas written in the shadow of BeethovenMusicians: Maria Kliegel (cello) Nina Tichman (piano)Composer: OnslowFive years after Beethoven wrote his last cello sonata, George Onslow, a descendent of the British nobility writing in Paris, penned his own three ...
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ReviewNölck: Salon music for cello & piano. Mendelssohn Songs without Words nos.1, 6,12,18, 23 & 30 (arr. Nölck)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Even accomplished performances can’t rescue mundane cello miniaturesMusicians: Beth Vanderborgh (cello) Theresa Bogard (piano)Composer: NölckTravelling from Hamburg to Vienna and eventually settling in Dresden, Lübeck-born cellist–composer August Nölck (1862–1928) absorbed the Romantic language of Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms, rendering his music, largely ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quintets no.1 in A major op.18 & no.2 in B flat major op.87
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Vibrant readings of works from both ends of Mendelssohn’s short lifeMusicians: Leipzig Quartet, Barbara Buntrock (viola)Composer: MendelssohnSuch was Mendelssohn’s creative genius that when comparing works in the same genre it is not always immediately apparent whether one is listening to a work ...
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ReviewE. Dall'Abaco: Sonata movements J. Dall'Abaco: Capricci
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Successful accounts of music from an 18th-century Italian dynastyMusicians: Bruno Cocset (cello/viola/tenor violin) Les Basses RéuniesComposer: E. Dall'Abaco, J. Dall'AbacoJoseph Dall’Abaco’s capriccios are here interspersed among selected movements from the sonatas opp.1 and 3 by his father, Evaristo, transposed for a variety ...
