Book reviews – Page 207
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ArticleBartók: String Quartets nos.1–6
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Belcea QuartetComposer: BartókThe Belcea Quartet has established itself as one of the finest ensembles of its generation. Even so, it is still a young group, founded not much over ten years ago, and these Bartók works constitute one of the most formidable ...
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ArticleBéton Armé. Xenakis: Euryali, Mikka, Mikka S, Keren, Ikhoor, Dikthas
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Bas Wiegers (violin) Gus Kramers (viola) Saartje van Camp (cello) Nora Mulder (piano) Koen Kaptijn (trombone) Composer: XenakisThis short disc of Xenakis promises more than it delivers. Go to the listed website for the promised ‘detailed programme notes’ ...
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ArticleBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor & no.2 in F major. Schumann: Fünf Stücke in Volkston
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Clive Greensmith (cello) Boris Berman (piano) Composer: Brahms, SchumannAs cellist of the Tokyo Quartet Clive Greensmith brings real chamber-music qualities to the Brahms sonatas, with the cello by turns prominent and the next moment falling away to ...
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ArticleComposers in the Loft. Lorenz: Bachangó*. Pann: Differences† . Jalbert: Piano Trio. Garrop: String Quartet no.2 ‘Demons and Angels’‡. Fung: Miniatures for clarinet and string quartet¶
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: David Ying (cello)† John Bruce Yeh (clarinet)¶ Marta Aznavoorian (piano)* Elinor Freer (piano)† Lincoln Trio, Blava Quartet‡, Maia Quartet¶Composer: Lorenz, Pann, Jalbert, Garrop, FungIt took only a few seconds of Ricardo Lorenz’s Bachangó for piano – Debussy meets Bartók, Piazzolla ...
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ArticleRota: Complete music for violin and piano, and for viola and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Marco Fornaciari (violin/viola) Gabriele Baldocci (piano)Composer: Rota Nino Rota (1911–79) is, of course, best known as Federico Fellini’s long-time collaborator in numerous films (La strada, Otto e mezzo and Amarcord among them), but his ‘serious’ pieces span the whole ...
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ArticleWhirled Chamber Music
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Quartet San FranciscoComposer: Various Having showcased their tango expertise in Látigo (2006), the players of Quartet San Francisco (QSF) continue in a popular vein here, turning their attention to jazz, funk, blues and Bluegrass, while celebrating the centenary of ...
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ArticleGarth: Six Concertos for the Violoncello op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Richard Tunnicliffe (cello) Avison Ensemble, Pavlo Besnosiuk (director)Composer: Garth The talented English organist, composer and entrepreneur John Garth (1721–1810) was based largely in Durham. His six cello concertos op.1 were published in 1760 and are transitional works in ...
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ArticleHandel: Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: London Handel PlayersComposer: Handel The past thirty years have seen many efforts to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the authenticity of Handel’s published violin sonatas. It was a situation created by the original publisher’s misrepresentation of the music he was offering, and compounded ...
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ArticleHonegger: Cello Concerto, Cello Sonata, Sonatina for cello and piano, Sonatina for violin and cello
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Kathryn Stott (piano) Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen (conductor) Composer: HoneggerFollowing on from his disc of music by Othmar Schoek, rising Swiss cello star Christian Poltéra turns to the works of another of ...
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ArticleL. Berkeley: String Quartets nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Maggini Quartet Composer: L. BerkeleyI’ve been a fan of violinist Lorraine McAslan since she first burst upon the scene with a stunning 1989 account of the Britten concerto for the now defunct Collins Classics label (reissued on Naxos 8.557198), so it was ...
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ArticleLeclair: Six Sonatas for two violins op.3
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Harmonie UniverselleComposer: Leclair Having established a reputation as an outstanding dancer and violinist in his native France, Jean Marie Leclair spent time during his mature years living in Turin where he extended his violin studies and imbued the ...
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ArticleMozart: String Quartets in D minor K421 ‘Hunt’, in B flat major K458 & in C major K465 ‘Dissonance’
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pražák QuartetComposer: Mozart Three Mozart masterpieces played by four Czech masters of their craft. It ought to make for plain sailing, and I thoroughly enjoyed these performances. But nowadays we hear an astonishing range of string playing styles ...
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ArticleViola incognita. Milhaud: Viola Sonata no.1 op.240. Hindemith: Viola Sonata in F major op.11 no.4. Winkler: Viola Sonata op.10
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pavel Ciprys (viola) Daniel Wiesner (piano)Composer: Milhaud, Hindemith, Winkler I am not sure which ‘unknown’ elements the title of this CD refers to. The viola itself? Hardly. The repertoire? Two of the three works are among the best known ...
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ArticleViola-Trios. Just: Trio in E flat major op.13 no.4. Holzer: Trio in C major op.7. no.3. Glinka: Trio pathétique in D minor. Berger: Trio in G minor op.94
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Vidor Nagy (viola) Peter Wolf (cello) Carmen Piazzini (piano)Composer: Just, Holzer, Glinka, Berger If, like me, you thought that trios for viola, cello and piano must be really thin on the ground, maybe we should revise that opinion. ...
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ArticleBach: Brandenburg Concertos nos.1–6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: European Brandenburg Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director)Composer: BachIf you haven’t heard of the European Brandenburg Ensemble before, that’s because this is its first recording, and hopefully not the last. Trevor Pinnock has gathered around him some of the finest of Europe’s ...
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ArticleBax: String Quartet no.1 in G major. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor op.83
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: PavÁo QuartetComposer: Bax, Elgar The last couple of decades have witnessed a remarkable general increase in quartet playing standards, yet the downside has been a corresponding tendency towards greater musical objectivism. What a relief, then, to discover ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in C major op.59 no.3 (Rasumovsky), String Quintet in C major op.29
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Kuijken Two Generations Composer: BeethovenBeethoven in C major? The key may be the same but the works inhabit quite different planes, both effortlessly reached by this amazing dynastic Kuijken group. We have been hearing Sigiswald (violin) and Wieland ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61, Violin Sonata no.7 in C minor op. 30 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Min-Jin Kym (violin) Ian Brown (piano) Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor)Composer: Beethoven Following her critically acclaimed recording of Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, Min-Jin Kym offers a strongly lyrical, authoritative account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. She shapes and unfolds the ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas in G major op.78, in A major op.100 & in D minor op.108, Scherzo WoO2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Antje Weithaas (violin) Silke Avenhaus (piano) Composer: BrahmsAntje Weithaas and Silke Avenhaus strike a finely judged balance between rhetoric and lyricism from the very opening of the G major Sonata and subordinate their technical prowess to the music throughout. ...
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ArticleBritten: Cello Sonata, Suite no.3 for solo cello. Shostakovich: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Karine Georgian (cello) Jeremy Young (piano)Composer: Britten, Shostakovich Karine Georgian is an established cellist and pedagogue who, on the evidence of this release, deserves a wider audience. These three works – all written for her teacher Rostropovich – ...
