Book reviews – Page 187
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ArticleBartók: 44 Duos for two violins
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Angela Chun, Jennifer Chun (violin)Composer: BartókConsidering the dazzling range of techniques and effects unleashed by Bartók elsewhere in his violin writing, the 44 Duos remain steadfastly true to their intentions as elementary teaching material. Pizzicato is employed sparingly, while double-stopping ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Ravel: String Quartet in F major, Violin Sonata in G major
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Dante Quartet, Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano)Composer: Debussy, RavelString playing changed radically in the decade between the Debussy and Ravel quartets and the Dante Quartet is unusual in perceiving the difference. What a shame that the recordings, by a team new ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quartets no.1 in C minor op.15 & no.2 in G minor op.55
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Trio Wanderer, Antoine Tamestit (viola)Composer: FauréThe very word ‘Wanderer’ exudes German Romanticism and would lead one to expect the trio’s members to be most at home in Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann (which of course they are). On the present CD, ...
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ArticleGade: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hasse Borup (violin), Heather Conner (piano)Composer: GadeViolinist Hasse Borup follows hot on the heels of Thomas Albertus Imberger (Gramola, reviewed in January) with a survey of sonatas by Niels Wilhelm Gade. The Danish composer succeeded Mendelssohn as music director of the Leipzig ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartet in G major op.77 no.1, Dvorák: String Quartet in G major op.106
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: St Lawrence QuartetComposer: Haydn, Dvorák Two magnificent late quartets in G major by two great composers raise the expectations; but sadly, a lot of water has flowed down the St Lawrence since the eponymous ensemble began its career, and I fear a ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in A major op.9 no.6. D major op.50 no.6 & C major op.74 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Schuppanzigh QuartetComposer: HaydnThis stimulating first volume of the Schuppanzigh Quartet’s projected three-part Haydn anthology showcases period-instrument chamber playing of the highest calibre. With Anton Steck at the helm, these performers communicate directly and powerfully and imbue their interpretations with imaginative phrasing, subtly ...
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ArticleHill: String Quartets vol.3: no.5 in E flat major (‘The Allies’), no.7 in A major & no.9 in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Dominion QuartetComposer: HillThis disc marks roughly the halfway point in Naxos’s ambitious project to record all 17 quartets by the prolific Australian composer Alfred Hill (1869–1960), who spent his formative years in New Zealand. It features three works composed between 1920 and ...
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ArticleJohann, I’m Only Dancing. Bach: Arrangements of Brandenburg Concerto no.3, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, etc
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Red PriestComposer: BachWith its highly personalised style of stage presentation, Red Priest aims to introduce the Baroque to audiences that would normally dismiss ‘old-fashioned’ music. Such commercialisation has polarised opinions, and this disc, devoted to the music of Bach, will ...
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ArticleKhachaturian: Violin Concerto in D minor, Concerto–Rhapsody in B flat minor
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Nicolas Koeckert (violin), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/José SerebrierComposer: KhachaturianThough Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto remains on the fringes of the concert repertoire, it has fared well both in the quantity and quality of its recordings. This latest one comes from the German–Brazilian violinist Nicolas Koeckert, ...
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ArticleKrenek: Symphonic Elegy op.105, Seven Easy Pieces op.146, Adagio and Fugue, Five Short Pieces for Strings op.116, Symphonic Piece op.86, Brazilian Sinfonietta op.131
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ernst Kovacic, Leopoldinum OrchestraComposer: KrenekErnst Krenek (1900–91) was one of the most prolific composers of the last century, with opus numbers stretching well into the 200s. He is best known for his jazzy opera Johnny spielt auf, but elsewhere his music is ...
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ArticleLigeti: String Quartets no.1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ & no.2, Andante and Allegretto
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Parker QuartetComposer: LigetiThis enterprising disc brings together Ligeti’s complete music for string quartet in committed performances by the young players of the Parker Quartet, New England Conservatory-trained and currently ensemble in residence with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.The First Quartet (1953–4), while ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: Piano Trios in D minor op.49 & C minor op.66
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Trio Jean PaulComposer: MendelssohnThese excellent West German Radio recordings, by an established German group, come very close to the truth of Mendelssohn’s trios as I understand it. Unlike the performances by the Eggner Trio from Austria, which I reviewed last month, they ...
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ArticleRachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19 (transcr. Mikhailovsky), Romance in A minor op.posth., miniatures transcr. Mikhailovsky, Kreisler, Heifetz, Press & Dushkin
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hideko Udagawa (violin), Konstantin Lifschitz (piano)Composer: RachmaninoffViolinist Hideko Udagawa brings together a fine clutch of Rachmaninoff transcriptions – by Heifetz and Kreisler, among others – as well as the composer’s original Romance in A minor. Viktor Mikhailovsky’s new transcription of ...
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ArticleA German Bouquet. Works by Schop, Schmelzer, Muffat, Krieger, Buxtehude, Bach, Erlebach & Pisendel
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Trio Settecento Composer: Schop, Schmelzer, Muffat, Krieger, Buxtehude, Bach, Erlebach & PisendelTrio Settecento’s accounts of the four trio sonatas in this programme of German Baroque music suffer from problems of balance, John Mark Rozendaal’s gamba occasionally seeming too distant in several passages ...
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ArticleConcerto italiano. Dall'Oglio: Violin Concerto in C major. Stratico: Violin Concerto in G minor. Nardini: Violin Concerto in G major. Lolli: Violin Concerto in C major
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Giuliano Carmignola (violin) Venice Baroque Orchestra/Andrea MarconComposer: Dall'Oglio, Stratico, Nardini, LolliHere we have four Italian composers from the middle of the 18th century whose names have long dropped from the repertoire, but who, in their lifetime, thrilled audiences throughout Europe with prodigious ...
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ArticleChuck and Albert: Énergie
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Albert Arsenault (fiddle, bass, vocals, percussion) Chuck Arsenault (guitar, harmonica, spoons, vocals)Composer: TradThis collection of songs from Acadie (a region of French-speaking Canada) is drawn from Chuck and Albert’s live show of slapstick comedy and quirky folk music, including the traditional Acadian ...
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ArticleSchubert: Duo in A major D574 (arr. Wispelwey), Sonata in A minor D821 ‘Arpeggione’, Fantasy in C major D934 (arr. Wispelwey)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Paolo Giacometti (fortepiano)Composer: SchubertIs period instrumentation a marketing ploy, and how far does it become an integral part of the whole interpretation? For the first few bars of this recording I missed the velvety hues of the modern piano ...
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ArticleShostakovich: String Quartet no.4 in D major op.83 (arr. Lieberman). Brahms: String Quartet no.2 in A minor op. 51 (arr. Lieberman). Dvorák: Adagio from String Quartet in D minor op.34 (arr. Lieberman
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: American String ProjectComposer: Shostakovich, Brahms, Dvorák:It was Barry Lieberman’s irritation that his double bass was so little used in chamber music that prompted him to add his own part to well-known quartets and quintets. From those modest beginnings has grown a series ...
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ArticleEnglish Music for Viola. Bliss: Viola Sonata Delius Violin Sonata no.3 (arr. Tertis). Bridge: Pieces for viola and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Enik? Magyar (viola) Tadashi Imai (piano)Composer: Bliss, BridgeMy initial amazement that a violist with such an echt-Hungarian name should be playing this arch-English repertoire, and in such an idiomatic and convincing way to boot, vanished after reading her biography: upon graduating in ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets vol.2: Quartets op.50 no.1 in B flat major, no.4 in F sharp minor & no.5 in F major
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Leipzig QuartetComposer: HaydnThe Leipzig Quartet and its record company seem intent on covering every corner of the repertoire. But like every other disc of this ensemble that has come my way, this second volume of a Haydn cycle rarely rises above a ...
