Book reviews – Page 199
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ArticlePatriots. Grieg: Violin Sonatas in G major op.13 & in F major op.8. Ives: Violin Sonatas no.2 & no.4 ‘Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anne Yarrow (violin) Caspar Dechmann (piano) Composer: Grieg, IvesPlaying of real power and passion from Anne Yarrow unfortunately does not disguise the sloppy tuning that mars this disc, in particular the two Grieg sonatas, ranging from notes here and there ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets in E flat major op.74 & F minor op.95
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tokyo Quartet Composer: BeethovenThis is the third instalment in the Tokyo Quartet’s complete Beethoven quartet cycle, and heady stuff it is. The op.74 Quartet is often seen as a gentle work, coming amid the might and severity ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Ravel: String Quartet in F major
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Australian QuartetComposer: Debussy, Ravel The pairing of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets is a conventional one; nonetheless, conventions are sometimes well founded and few could doubt the propriety of this famous match.The Australian Quartet was formed in 1985, ...
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ArticleBrahms: Cello Sonata in E minor op.38 (arr. Wei). Zhan-hao Ho/Chen Kang: ‘Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto (arr. Wei)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Yung-Chiao Wei (double bass) Chao-I Chou (piano)Composer: Brahms, Zhan-hao Ho/Chen Kang Yung-Chiao Wei was born in Taiwan and began learning the double bass at the age of twelve. She moved to the US to complete her musical education at ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Quartets in G minor op.25, in A major op.26 & in C minor op.60
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Gérard Caussé (viola) Gautier Capuçon (cello) Nicholas Angelich (piano)Composer: BrahmsGiven the line-up of artists, these discs appear to have all the makings of unqualified success. However, although the strongly projected readings display striking virtuosity, the end musical product does ...
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ArticleRimsky-Korsakov: Fantasy on Russian Themes op.33. Taneyev: Suite de concert op.28
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lydia Mordkovitch (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (conductor) Composer: Rimsky-Korsakov, TaneyevIf there is anyone who could rescue these two chips off the Russian nationalist block from total oblivion it is Lydia Mordkovitch, especially working with ...
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ArticleSchnittke: Viola Concerto. Shostakovich: Viola Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Antoine Tamestit (viola) Markus Hadulla (piano) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitri Kitaienko (conductor)Composer: Schnittke, Shostakovich The coupling of these two undisputed masterpieces of the late 20th century is a stroke of genius, and yet so obvious that it seems strange ...
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ArticleString Poetic. Higdon: String Poetic. Ruggles: Mood. Harrison: Grand Duo. Adams: Road Movies
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jennifer Koh (violin) Reiko Uchida (piano) Composer: Higdon, Ruggles, Harrison, AdamsThis is the fifth recital CD by the young American violinist Jennifer Koh for Cedille, and it’s a curiously mixed affair – very much a disc of two halves. The all-American ...
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ArticleVivaldi: Cello Concertos in C major RV400, in C minor RV401, in D major RV403, in E flat major RV408, in A minor RV418, in A minor RV420 & in B minor RV424
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Han-Na Chang (cello) London Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green (conductor) Composer: VivaldiVivaldi seems a surprising choice for a cellist so renowned for her Romantic and 20th-century interpretations, and it would have been interesting to hear from Han-Na Chang in ...
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ArticleWarg Buen
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Per Anders Buen GarnŠs (Hardanger fiddle) Daniel Sandén-Warg (Hardanger fiddle/violin/jew’s harp) Composer: TradThis selection of traditional Norwegian music includes solo performances by both musicians, as well as a smattering of duets. The Hardanger fiddle features in most of the 21 tunes, and ...
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ArticleElgar's Violin Concerto in B minor op.61
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gil Shaham (violin) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman (conductor)Composer: Elgar There is some devilishly fine fiddle playing on this CD. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under David Zinman in stylish attendance, Gil Shaham turns in a blistering live ...
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ArticleGrieg: Cello Sonata in A minor op.36, Lyric Pieces (selection, arr. Bertrand & Amoyel), Allegretto in E major, Intermezzo in A minor
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello) Pascal Amoyel (piano)Composer: Grieg Emmanuelle Bertrand and Pascal Amoyel present an almost ideal performance of Grieg’s Cello Sonata. Supported by a wonderfully vivid recording, they elicit a totally compelling narrative in the first movement. The ensuing Andante ...
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ArticleImogen Holst: Phantasy Quartet, Duo for viola & piano, String Trio, The Fall of the Leaf, Sonata for Violin & Cello, String Quintet
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Court Lane Music Composer: Imogen Holst‘More than Britten’s Girl Friday,’ proclaimed a recent article about Imogen Holst. Just how much more soon becomes evident from this CD, a selection of her chamber works written between 1928 and 1982. It’s rather moving to ...
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ArticlePenderecki: Concerto grosso no.1 for three cellos & orchestra; Largo for cello & orchestra*; Sonata for cello & orchestra†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ivan Monighetti (cello)† Arto Noras (cello)* Rafal Kwiatkowski (cello) Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit (conductor)Composer: Penderecki Penderecki’s output is something of a stylistic anomaly. The Polish composer is best-known for his seminal 1960 work for strings, Threnody ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Concerto no.1, Viola Concerto, Concerto for Two Pianos & Percussion
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gidon Kremer (violin) Yuri Bashmet (viola) Tamara Stefanovich (piano) Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) Nigel Thomas (percussion) Neil Percy (percussion) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (conductor) Composer: BartókPierre Boulez, completing his Bartók cycle with this CD, could hardly ...
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ArticleBax: Piano Trio in B flat major. Bernstein: Piano Trio op.2. Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major op.70 no.1 ‘Ghost’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ensemble AvalonComposer: Bax, Bernstein, Beethoven Rarely has Bax’s deeply personal, post-Romantic idiom been captured with such ravishing sensitivity as by this remarkable Irish ensemble. Composed in the mid-1940s, the three-movement Piano Trio is not a work ...
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ArticleBiber's Rosary Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Elizabeth Wallfisch (violin) Rosanne Hunt (cello) Linda Kent (organ/harpsichord) Composer: BiberElizabeth Wallfisch offers intelligent, stylish and expressive accounts of Biber’s extra-musically inspired sonatas. Her playing is characterised by easy virtuosity, tonal sweetness and subtle shading, and the music’s ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete works for piano and violin vol. 1: Violin Sonatas op.12 no.1, op.23 & op.30 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Franco Mezzena (violin) Stefano Giavazzi (piano)Composer: Beethoven That Franco Mezzena and Stefano Giavazzi give assured and mostly very clean performances of these seminal works is only to be expected, given their credentials. Mezzena, a pupil of Salvatore Accardo, is ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Sonata in A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’. Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major. Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances. Say: Violin Sonata, op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaya (violin) Fazil Say (piano) Composer: Beethoven, Ravel, Bartók, SayPatricia Kopatchinskaya, making her CD debut, was born in Moldavia and musically educated in Vienna and Bern. Winner of the International Henryk Szerying Competition in 2000, she represented Austria ...
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ArticleBrahms: Viola Sonatas op.120 nos.1 & 2, Lieder (arr. Causa)
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ettore Causa (viola) Marc Pantillon (piano)Composer: Brahms Brahms’s late compositions have often been described as ‘autumnal’. In this latest recording of the viola sonatas, the music’s ‘mellow fruitfulness’ is further remarked upon in the interpreters’ comments, and in some evocative pictures in ...
