Book reviews – Page 202
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ArticleBloch: Violin Concerto. Lees: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Elmar Oliveira (violin) National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, John McLaughlin Williams (conductor)Composer: Bloch, Lees Bloch’s Violin Concerto gets few outings in the concert hall, and Benjamin Lees’s gets fewer still, so this recording is welcome. Bloch’s work, written just ...
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ArticleD’Amore. Works by Garth Knox, Marais, Roland Moser, Hume, Ariosti & Klaus Huber
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Garth Knox (viola d’amore) Agnès Vesterman (cello) Composer: Garth Knox, Marais, Roland Moser, Hume, Ariosti & Klaus Huber Viola player Garth Knox is a veteran of the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Arditti Quartet. He has made ...
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ArticleRyelandt: Piano Quintet in A minor, String Quartet no.2 in F minor, Adagio for String Quartet in F sharp minor op.13, Andante ‘Ach Tjanne’ and Variations
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Spiegel Quartet, Joost Magerman (double bass) Jozef de Beenhouwer (piano)Composer: Ryelandt Joseph Ryelandt (1870–1965) was, like his Flemish compatriots Benoît, Blockx, Meulemans, Mortelmans and Roels, a formidable symphonist. He penned meaty oratorios, and his songs are admirably intimate. This ...
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ArticleScarlatti: Twelve Keyboard Sonatas (arr. Papavrami)
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tedi Papavrami (violin)Composer: Scarlatti Until I heard this disc, I would not have thought it possible that a Scarlatti keyboard sonata could be played on the violin. I have enjoyed Tedi Papavrami’s realisations so much that I hope ...
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ArticleSchnittke: Piano Trio, A Paganini, Madrigal, Piano Sonata no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Janácek TrioComposer: SchnittkeThese four works date from the decade 1982–92, years when Schnittke was in full command of his own voice; and the last of them, the Piano Trio, beautifully makes the point. Its 25 minutes of music are lovingly advocated by ...
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ArticleScott: Sonata lirica, Deux préludes, Valse triste op.73 no.3, Tallahassee Suite op.73 no.3, Fantasie orientale, Romance op.73 no.2, Elégie op.73 no.1, Lotus Land, Andante languido, Intermezzo, Dance n
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Clare Howick (violin) Sophia Rahman (piano)Composer: ScottCyril Scott was born in 1879 and would today be described as a crossover composer, always happy to work either in popular light music or in more serious and ambitious works. Sadly he found that his ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concertos nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yakov Kreizberg (conductor)Composer: Shostakovich Yakov Kreizberg recently notched up a notable success as a sympathetic concerto partner for Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott in Brahms’s ‘Double’. A similar level ...
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ArticleSibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor op.47. Khachaturian: Violin Concerto*. Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy†
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Gerhard Taschner (violin) Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Sandberg (conductor) NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (conductor)* Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Lehmann (conductor)† Composer: Sibelius, Khachaturian, SarasateI have not previously encountered this 1955 version of the Khachaturian, a work Gerhard Taschner (1922–76) plays ...
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ArticleYsaÿe's Six Sonatas for solo violin op.27
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin) Composer: YsaÿeNo less an authority than Carl Flesch considered Ysaÿe the ‘most outstanding and individual violinist I have heard in my life’. By his 30s, renowned composers were virtually falling over themselves to ...
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ArticleLost and Found: Treasures of the Heifetz Legacy Vol.2. Works by Beethoven, Badings, Rachmaninoff–Heifetz, Haydn–Heifetz, Wieniawski–Heifetz & R. Strauss
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Sherry Kloss (violin) Brooks Smith (piano) Mark Westcott (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Badings, Rachmaninoff–Heifetz, Haydn–Heifetz, Wieniawski–Heifetz & R. StraussThis disc should be a fascinating insight into Heifetz’s ‘inner circle’ by performers closely associated with the violinist – Sherry Kloss was his assistant at the ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: Violin Concertos in D minor & in E minor op.64
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Nemanja Radulović (violin) Prague Chamber OrchestraComposer: Mendelssohn Nemanja Radulović won the Joachim (2003) and Enescu (2001) competitions as a teenager. Now nearly 23, he gives his youthful emotions full poetic rein in these sparsely edited, ‘live’ readings. Radulović and the orchestra capture ...
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ArticleProkofiev: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94b, March from ‘The Love of Three Oranges’, The Mask from ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Waltz from ‘Cinderella’
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Erik Schumann (violin) Henri Sigfridsson (piano)Composer: Prokofiev Prokofiev possessed a highly complex creative personality. One minute he might enchant the ear with fresh musical slants on the Classical and Romantic traditions, then iconoclastically rail against them with outbursts ...
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ArticleRaff: Violin Concerto no.1 in B minor op.161 (original version), Suite for solo violin and orchestra op.181, La fée d’amour
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tobias Ringborg (violin) Norrlands Opera Symphony Orchestra, Andrea Quinn (conductor)Composer: Raff Raff’s prolific output is often described as ‘eclectic’. In part, this is a tribute to his profuse writing in a variety of genres, and a style that ...
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ArticleTim Kliphuis – Swingin’ Through the Classics. Works by Fauré, Dvorák, Chopin, Liszt, Tárrega, Grieg, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert & Tchaikovsky (arr. Kliphuis)
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tim Kliphuis (violin) Len Skeat (double bass) Mitch Dalton (guitars) Nick Dawson (piano) Composer: Fauré, Dvorák, Chopin, Liszt, Tárrega, Grieg, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert & Tchaikovsky (arr. Kliphuis) This album is much better than ...
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ArticleBrahms: 21 Hungarian Dances (arr. Joachim). Joachim: Variations in E minor
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano)Composer: Brahms, Joachim The most important work here is the one advertised in smaller type on the cover, Joachim’s E minor Variations, a magnificent assemblge of an introduction, a theme and 18 brief variations ...
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ArticleSchubert: String Quartets in C minor D703 & in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’, Quartettsatz
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Jerusalem Quartet Composer: SchubertFew things in music are more cheering and exciting than a young ensemble renewing old warhorses with skill, vigour and musicality. With these two performances, the Jerusalem Quartet reaches a standard that few predecessors have achieved.The ...
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ArticleString Quartets by Opera Composers. Puccini: Crisantemi. Respighi: Il tramonto. Wagner: Albumblatt. Humperdinck: String Quartet in C major. Verdi: String Quartet in E minor
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Leipzig Quartet, Ruth Ziesak (soprano)Composer: Puccini, Respighi, Wagner, Humperdinck, Verdi It was an inspired idea to put together a programme of string quartet music by composers who, with the exception of Respighi, are celebrated almost ...
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ArticleTangos y Historias. Works by Piazzolla, Gsmonti, Ibert, Albéniz & Falla
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Friedemann Eichhorn (violin) Thomas Müller-Pering (guitar) Composer: Piazzolla, Gsmonti, Ibert, Albéniz & Falla The Piazzolla bandwagon keeps rolling, with his compositions being recorded in the most varied arrangements. If after a while Piazzolla’s pieces do betray the ...
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ArticleDohnányi: Violin Concertos no.1 in D minor op.27 & no.2 in C minor op.43
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Michael Ludwig (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta (conductor)Composer: DohnányiErno Dohnányi (1877–1960) suffered an eclipse after his death, ceding place in his native Hungary to Bartók and Kodály, and (except for his popular Nursery Variations) less of a platform performer after ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Sonata in E minor op.82, Serenade (arr. Szigeti), Adieu (arr. Szigeti). Grieg: Violin Sonata no.3 in C minor op.43 no.3, Two Brown Eyes, You Cannot Grasp the Waves’ Eternal Course
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Charlie Siem (violin), Andrei Korobeinikov (piano)Composer: Elgar, GriegIn his fine booklet note, Charlie Siem draws interesting parallels between Grieg and Elgar, who composed the violin sonatas in this recital during what might be termed their respective ‘late’ periods. This appears to have ...
