Book reviews – Page 209
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ArticleGraham Whettam: String Quartets nos.2 & 4, Oboe Quartet no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Carducci Quartet, Jennie-Lee Keetley (oboe)Composer: Graham Whettam The two string quartets here were written over 30 years apart. The Carducci Quartet premiered the Fourth Quartet in 2001, while the First had appeared in 1968. There is a meditative quality ...
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ArticleHelen Callus. Works by Prokofiev (arr. Borissowsky), Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Bridge, Swain, Tertis, Schumann & Chopin
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Hellen Callus (viola) Phillip Bush (piano)Composer: Prokofiev (arr. Borissowsky), Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Bridge, Swain, Tertis, Schumann & Chopin For her latest recording, Helen Callus has researched the many transcriptions made by the ‘Father of the Russian Viola School’, Vadim ...
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ArticleKorngold: Piano Trio in D major op. 1, Suite op. 23*
Musicians: Trio Parnassus, Matthias Wollong (violin)* Composer: KorngoldThe progress of Erich Korngold (1897–1957) from Viennese child prodigy to Hollywood golden-age film composer is remarkable. Yet his ‘serious’ output spanned all this period, soaring to new heights with his violin and cello concertos.Many other works ...
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ArticleAn Italian Sojourn. Sonatas by Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & Veracini
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Trio SettecentoComposer: Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & VeraciniTrio Settecento’s period-instrument accounts conjure up an attractive intimacy, even if violinist Rachel Barton Pine occasionally reverts to an attack and technical vocabulary more appropriate to the present century. Nevertheless, these players ...
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ArticleMozart: Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364, Concertone in C major K190*, Rondo in C major K373
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin) Gordan Nikolitch (violin/viola) Herre Jan Stegenga (cello)* Hans Meyer (oboe)* Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Yakov Kreizberg (conductor) Composer: MozartJulia Fischer again demonstrates her outstanding technical command, musical perception and expressive purpose in these compelling Mozart performances. Her ...
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ArticleViolin Songs. Works by Elgar, Berg, Bridge, Copland, Prokofiev, Massenet, L. Boulanger, Poulenc, Ravel, Schubert & Strauss
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Madeleine Mitchell (violin) Andrew Ball (piano) Elizabeth Watts (soprano)Composer: Elgar, Berg, Bridge, Copland, Prokofiev, Massenet, L. Boulanger, Poulenc, Ravel, Schubert & Strauss The innumerable miniatures and short salon pieces written for the violin don’t get much of an outing nowadays, aside from ...
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ArticleSchubert: Violin Sonata in A minor D385, Fantasy in C major D934, Rondo brillant in B minor D895
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dimitri Hadjipetkov (violin) Yuan Sheng (piano)Composer: Schubert Dimitri Hadjipetkov began violin studies in his native Bulgaria at the age of five, and after a fledgling European concert career moved to the United States in 1997 to work with ...
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ArticleSibelius: Violin Concerto. Lindberg: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Lisa Batiashvili (violin) Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)Composer: Sibelius, Lindberg There’s something about violin concertos that has composers reaching for the soft soap. Is it that the challenge of balancing the solo instrument with an orchestra ...
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ArticleDvorák: Piano Trio in B flat major op.21. Fibich: Piano Trio in F minor. Martinu: Piano Trio no.2 in D minor
Musicians: Smetana TrioComposer: Dvorák, Fibich, Martinu The Piano Trio in F minor, perhaps the most compelling of Zdenek Fibich’s early chamber works, predates both Dvo?ák’s great Piano Trio in F minor (op.65) and its predecessor in B flat major (op.21), which also appears on ...
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ArticleErnst Reijseger: Do You Still: Gretchen am Spinnrade (Voice from Another World), Do You Still (River in the Rain), Blurb One, Marta (Monsoon), 8x3 4 T, Strabismo di Venere, Blurb Two, Passaggio, May t
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ernst Reijseger (cello) Larissa Groeneveld (cello) Frank van de Laar (piano)Composer: Ernst ReijsegerThe title track of this album was chosen by director Werner Herzog for his film Rescue Dawn. This is perhaps the clue to cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger’s musical language, ...
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ArticleFauré: Cello Sonatas op.109 in D minor & op.117 in G minor, Romance op.69, Vocalise, Élégie op.24, Sérénade op.98, Papillon op.77, Sicilienne op.78, Berceuse op.16, Morceau de lecture*, Après un rêve
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Xavier Gagnepain (cello) Jérémie Billet (cello)* Jean-Michel Dayez (piano)Composer: FauréAll cellists have a special relationship with Gabriel Fauré at some point in their lives, whether it’s sitting on a school stage playing the Élégie or Sicilienne, or learning salon pieces like Après ...
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ArticleFriedrich Cerha: Cello Concerto. Schreker: Chamber Symphony
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Heinrich Schiff (cello) Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Peter Eötvös (conductor) Composer: Friedrich Cerha, Schreker Vienna is central to this disc. Viennese Friedrich Cerha’s Cello Concerto started life as a commission for the Wien Modern Festival in 1989, while ...
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ArticleJanácek: String Quartets no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ & no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’. Szymanowski: String Quartets nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Schoenberg QuartetComposer: Janacek, SzymanowskiCoupling the Janá?ek and Szymanowski quartets together was an inspired idea, one that as far as I’m aware hasn’t been attempted on disc before. Both composers proudly carried the torch of their respective Moravian and Polish traditions into ...
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ArticleJind?ich Feld: String Quartet no.4, Clarinet Quintet, Two Pieces for cello, Viola Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Pražák Quartet, Raphaël Oleg (viola) Michal Ka?nka (cello) Jan Mach (clarinet) Jaromír Klepá?c (piano) Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vladimír Válek (conductor)Composer: Jind?ich Feld Jind?ich Feld (b.1925) is one of the foremost Czech composers of his generation, and if Bartók’s ...
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Martin Bresnik: String Quartet no.2 ‘Bucephalus’, Piano Trio, The Bucket Rider, BE JUST!
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Flux Quartet, Jupiter Trio, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Lisa Moore (piano)Composer: MartinuBresnik This disc features a selection of chamber music by the American composer MartinuBresnik (b.1946), ‘spiritual advisor’ of the Bang on a Can generation of Gordon, Torke et ...
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ArticleMartinu: Concerto for violin & flute, Duo concertante for two violins*, Concerto in D major for two violins†
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Bohuslav Matoušek (violin) Régis Pasquier (violin)* Jennifer Koh (violin)† Janine Thomsen (flute) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Hogwood (conductor) Composer: MartinuMartinu’s list of compositions includes 16 operas, a dozen ballets, innumerable orchestral scores, over a hundred choral works, and most staggering of ...
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ArticleMozart: Le nozze di Figaro (excerpts, arr. string quartet)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Marcolini QuartetComposer: Mozart This release of string quartet arrangements of key extracts from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro perpetuates the Marcolini Quartet’s reputation for unusual programming. Using printed parts published by Simrock (Bonn, 1799) and housed in the ...
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ArticleNicholas Altstaedt. Works by Beethoven, Webern, Bach, Ligeti and Stravinsky
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Nicholas Altstaedt (cello) Franco Piemontesi (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Webern, Bach, Ligeti and Stravinsky This uncommonly well-planned and recorded recital may have arisen from a competition winner (of the 2005 Deutschermusikwettbewerb) wishing to display the range of his abilities, but it ...
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ArticlePolish Spirit. Mlynarski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D major op.6. Karlowicz: Violin Concerto in A, op. 8. Chopin: Two Nocturnes op.9 (arr. Debski)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Nigel Kennedy (violin) Polish Chamber Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk (conductor)Composer: Mlynarski, Karlowicz, Chopin Nigel Kennedy is one of the most genuinely inspired artists of our age, and he has always remained so, despite periodic posturings and some ropy ...
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ArticleAsturiana. Songs from Spain and Argentina: arrangements of works by Falla, Granados, Guastavino, Ginastera, Montsalvatge and López Buchardo
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Kim Kashkashian (viola) Robert Levin (piano) Composer: Falla, Granados, Guastavino, Ginastera, Montsalvatge and López Buchardo Having grown up in Argentina, I have known these songs since childhood, and later played the odd one on the viola as well. I ...
