Book reviews – Page 191
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ArticleHubay: Violin Concertos no.1 in A minor op.21 ‘Concerto dramatique’ & no.2 in E major op.90, Scènes de la Csárda nos.3 & 4
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Chloë Hanslip (violin) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Andrew MogreliaComposer: Hubay The explosive virtuosity of these two concertos by Hungarian violinist and composer Hubay are underpinned by beautifully coloured orchestral writing. Chloë Hanslip is on sparkling form, bringing to bear ...
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ArticleAlfano: Concerto for violin, cello & piano, Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Elmira Darvarova (violin) Samuel Magill (cello) Scott Dunn (piano)Composer: Alfano Franco Alfano (1875–1954) composed a large number of piano and orchestral pieces, several operas (including a Cyrano de Bergerac) and a number of major chamber works, including three string quartets. ...
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ArticleMartinu: Cello Concerto no.1. Foerster: Cello Concerto op.143 j. Novák: Capriccio for cello and small orchestra
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ji?í Bárta (cello) Prague Philharmonia/Jakub Hr?šaComposer: Martinu, Foerster, NovákApart from three sensational performances, the heroes here are Supraphon’s superb engineers: listen to how in the Foerster the soloist, accompanying solo strings and woodwind snippets are separately miked, so as to produce gossamer-like ...
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ArticleThe Voices that are Gone: The Music of Stephen Foster
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Matt Turner (cello) Peg Carrothers (voice) Bill Carrothers (piano) Composer: Stephen Foster Improvising cellist Matt Turner leads this poignant tribute to 19th-century songwriter Stephen Foster, the ‘father of American music’ and composer of tunes such as Camptown Races and My ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Isabelle Faust (violin) Alexander Melnikov (piano)Composer: BeethovenAll the elements of this cycle are in place from the performance of the first movement of the first sonata op.12 no.1: a drive through to the end, within which the dwelling on a ...
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ArticleKreisler: Violin miniatures: original works and arrangements
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Carlos Damas (violin) Anna Tomasik (piano) Composer: KreislerIf Kreisler’s status as one of the master violinists of the last century is beyond question, his creative talent is still largely undervalued because his forte was as an exquisite miniaturist. Kreisler’s ability to ...
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ArticleBrahms: String Quartet in C minor op.51 no.1, Piano Quintet in F minor op.34
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ébène Quartet, Akiko Yamamoto (piano)Composer: BrahmsThe Ébène Quartet offers the most highly energised and powerful opening movement to Brahms’s first quartet that I have yet encountered. The players bring turbulence to the climatic moments and a tangy quality in the ...
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ArticleBritten: String Quartet no.2 in C major op.36. Mozart: Piano Quartet in E flat major K493
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Amadeus Quartet, Benjamin Britten (piano) Composer: Britten, MozartThis is one of the first in a new series of recordings, only available as downloads, drawn from the archives of Music Preserved. Most of them were recorded live from the radio more than ...
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ArticleRussian Violin Sonatas. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.1 in F minor op.80. Shostakovich: Violin Sonata in G major op.134
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Michael Dinnebier (violin) Angela-Charlott Bieber (piano)Composer: Prokofiev, ShostakovichA product of the War years when Stalin’s henchmen were generally more tolerant of less than optimistic musical statements, Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata just got under the wire before the post-war crackdown. Both Isaac Stern ...
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ArticleSay: Violin Concerto ‘1001 Nights in the Harem’, Alla Turca Jazz, Patara Ballet, Summertime Variations
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Fazil Say (piano) Burcu Soysev (soprano) Aykut Kösselerli (percussion) Celalettin Biçer (ney flute) Lucerne Symphony Orchestra/John Axelrod Composer: SayHaving formed a performing duo with Patricia Kopatchinskaja in 2006, gifted pianist–composer Fazil Say composed this violin concerto ...
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ArticleSchumann: Violin Sonatas no.1 in A minor op.105 & no.2 in D minor op.121, Four song transcriptions
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Linus Roth (violin) José Gallardo (piano) Composer: SchumannGerman violinist and Argentine pianist are an established duo and their rapport is evident in the dramatic D minor Sonata, which starts their programme. The opening chords are almost too abrupt, but Linus Roth ...
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ArticleScotland’s Fiddle Piobaireachd vol.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Bonnie Rideout (fiddle/viola) Allan MacDonald (Highland bagpipes/voice) Simon O’Dwyer (Bronze Age horns) William Jackson (clarsach) Chris Norman (flute)Composer: TradThis challenging, fascinating disc takes the listener deep into the world of the piobaireachd, the classical music of the Scottish Highlands. Bonnie ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Concertos no.1 op.35 & no.2 op.61*. Britten: Violin Concerto op.15†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit*, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck† Composer: Szymanowski, BrittenAn unusual coupling of composers, but who cares when between them they produced three of the most seductive violin concertos of the 20th century? Frank Peter Zimmermann ...
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ArticleWalton: Cello Concerto, Façade*
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gregor Piatigorsky (cello) Joan Cross*, Peter Pears* (reciters) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Malcolm Sargent, English Opera Group Orchestra/Paul Sacher*Composer: Walton This release of the European premiere of Walton’s Cello Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall on 13 February 1957 has been ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Gulda: String Quartet in F sharp minor. Puccini: Crisantemi
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Acies QuartetComposer: Debussy, Gulda, PucciniThe Acies Quartet from Carinthia is a brilliant young Austrian ensemble of whom one hopes to hear a great deal in the future. Its Debussy is all one could wish for: never self-indulgent, but Classically restrained, with attractive ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quintets no.1 in D minor op.89 & no.2 in C minor
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano) Composer: FauréIn Fauré there is no substitute for experience and these five veterans show all their modern rivals the way home. Throughout these difficult but rewarding works from the composer’s late period, the playing has the ...
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ArticleGould: String Quartet op.1. E. MacMillan: String Quartet in C minor, Two Sketches Based on French Canadian Airs
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alcan QuartetComposer: Gould, E. MacMillanBoth composers here are better remembered as Canadian performers of the front rank: the Scottish-born Ernest MacMillan (1893–1973) conducted at Glenn Gould’s first major outings on the concert platform. The two quartets on this disc marry up admirably, ...
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ArticleL. Weiner: Violin Sonatas no.1 in D major op.9 & no.2 in F sharp minor op.11, Pereg Recruiting Dance, Wedding Dance, Three Hungarian Folk Dances, Twenty Easy Little Pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano) Composer: L. WeinerCompared to the other great composers – Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi – who taught at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, early in the last century, Leó Weiner (1885–1960) is largely neglected. His violin sonatas, from ...
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ArticleLiszt: Works for Violin and Piano: Première élégie, Zweite Elegie, Die drei Zigeuner – Paraphrase, Romance oubliée, La lugubre gondola, Grand duo concertant, Epithalam, Benedictus, Offertorium
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Friedemann Eichhorn (violin) Rolf-Dieter Arens (piano)Composer: LisztThis disc is impressive not only for its sensitive performances by Weimar-based Friedemann Eichorn and Rolf-Dieter Arens, but also for revealing the scope, originality and depth of Liszt’s music. From today’s perspective, it is easy to ...
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ArticleOliver/Varner: Jomo
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mary Oliver (violin/viola) Johanna Varner (cello)Composer: Oliver/Varner This album, composed entirely by Mary Oliver and Johanna Varner, takes us on a journey through the night via a series of atmospheric, semi-improvised atonal vignettes.The opening Bedtime Story sets the tone, ...
