All Brahms articles – Page 7
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Article
Masterclass with David Finckel: Brahms Piano Quartet no.1 in G minor
There has to be enough definition to these four-note phrases for the audience to make sense of the music' Cellist David Finckel leads the Zelda Quartet in a masterclass at The Juilliard School's Paul Hall. The quartet play the Allegro non troppo from Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet ...
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Review
Debut. Bloch: Prayer (arr. Shaw). Brahms: Cello Sonatas: no.1 in E minor op.38; no.2 in F major op.99. Britten: Solo Cello Suite no.3. Casals: Song of the Birds (arr. Shaw); Trad: A Brit in Denmark (a
The Strad Issue: April 2016Description: A quirky first recording for this Brit in DenmarkMusicians: Jacob Shaw (cello) José Gallardo (piano) Musicians from the Confucius InstituteComposer: Bloch; Brahms; Britten; Casals; Trad; De Wallensbourg; Wang LipingThis is a rather unusual recording debut. The first disc, of Brahms’s two cello ...
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Article
Gil Shaham performs Brahms's Violin Concerto
Gil Shaham performs Brahms's Violin Concerto in rehearsal at the Paris Philharmonie conducted by David Zinman for performances on 3 and 4 February 2016. Read: Gil Shaham on the irresistible lure of 1930s violin concertos Watch: Gil Shaham gives Mozart masterclass
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Review
Brahms: Two Viola Sonatas op.120. Hindemith: Viola Sonata op.11 no.4. Weigl: Viola Sonata op.32
The Strad Issue: March 2016Description: Vintage viola recordings that reveal a unique authenticityMusicians: Paul Doktor (viola) Nadia Reisenberg (piano)Composer: Brahms; Hindemith; WeiglThese deliciously ‘old world’ readings were recorded around 60 years ago by a wonderfully well-attuned duo. The main drawback is the recording quality, not downright bad ...
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Review
Bartók: Violin Concerto no.1. Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77
The Strad Issue: March 2016Description: Celestial sweetness in an odd couple of concertosMusicians: Janine Jansen (violin) Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, London Symphony Orchestra/Antonio PappanoComposer: Bartók; BrahmsThe connections Janine Jansen makes between these two concertos in the booklet notes may be sketchy but it ...
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Review
Brahms: Two String Quartets op.51
The Strad Issue: February 2016Description: Playing of warmth that gets to the heart of Brahms’s elusive quartetsMusicians: New Orford QuartetComposer: BrahmsBrahms’s op.51 string quartets synthesise Beethovenian structural integrity with Schubertian lyricism under high musical pressure. The resulting contrapuntal compression was to have a vital creative impact on ...
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Review
Brahms: String Quintet no.2 in G major. Dvorák: String Quintet no.3 in E flat major ‘American’
The Strad Issue: February 2016Description: Garlitsky and students take on two Romantic string quintetsMusicians: Boris Garlitsky, Jaha Lee (violins) Kyoungmin Park, Georgy Kovalev (violas) Philip Graham (cello)Composer: Brahms; DvorákThe expansive and eager theme that opens the second of Brahms’s string quintets is one of the most notable ...
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Review
Brahms: Cello Sonata in E minor op.38. Schumann: Fantasiestücke op.73; Intermezzo from F-A-E Sonata; Adagio and Allegro op.70; Three Romances op.94
The Strad Issue: February 2016Description: Characterful playing of persuasive transcriptions for violaMusicians: Ettore Causa (viola) Boris Berman (piano)Composer: Brahms; SchumannSchumann probably brought it upon himself when he allowed his late chamber music to be published in versions for different instruments.On this disc, violist Ettore Causa plays pieces ...
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Review
Cello Concertos, Sonatas & Suites. Works by Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud and Schumann
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Collected performances by a legendary Canadian cellistMusicians: Zara Nelsova (cello) Artur Balsam, Lothar Broddack (pianos) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Georg Ludwig Jochum, Gerd AlbrechtComposer: Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud, SchumannThe greatest cellist to come out of the Americas (see ‘Great Cellists’, ...
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Review
Brahms: ‘Double’ Concerto in A minor for violin and cello. Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto in E minor
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Natalia Gutman, friends and family in live Moscow recordingsMusicians: Natalia Gutman (cello) Oleg Kagan (violin) USSR State Academic SO/Yevgeny Svetlanov, Alexander LazarevComposer: Brahms, ProkofievNatalia Gutman has everything going for her except a large tone, and on record this deficiency can be offset. ...
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Review
Brahms: String Quartets op.51: no.1 in C minor, no.2 in A minor; In stiller Nacht
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A faithful approach to the score mutes the drama of Brahms’s op.51Musicians: Quiroga QuartetComposer: BrahmsOver the years, Brahms’s first two string quartets have become tarnished with so much ‘interpretative insight’ that the Quiroga Quartet’s unaffected performance of the C minor Quartet at ...
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Review
The Sonatas. Brahms: Cello Sonata no.1 in E minor (transc. de Groot). Gubaidulina: Double Bass Sonata. Hindemith: Double Bass Sonata. Vasks: Solo Double Bass Sonata
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Brahms on the bass – at pitch! – and three more recent worksMusicians: Niek de Groot (double bass) Catherine Klipfel (piano)Composer: Brahms, Gubaidulina, Hindemith, VasksAs his thoughtful message in the booklet states, Niek de Groot’s career was forged on the idea that ...
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Review
Brahms: Cello Sonatas: no.1 in E minor op.38; no.2 in F major op.99; Six Lieder (transc. Schwabe/Rimmer)
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Speedy traversals of the cello sonatas don’t delve below the surfaceMusicians: Gabriel Schwabe (cello) Nicholas Rimmer (piano)Composer: BrahmsThis recording of Brahms’s cello sonatas enters a crowded field but offers precious few insights. That said, the choice of song arrangements is judicious, as ...
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Review
Phantasie. Brahms: Cello Sonata in E flat major op.120 no.2. Reger: Adagio from Suite no.1 for solo cello; Largo from Suite no.2 for solo cello. Schubert: Fantasie in C major D934; Sonatina in G minor
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Wispelwey embarks on the complete duos of Brahms and SchubertMusicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Paolo Giacometti (piano)Composer: Brahms, Reger, SchubertIt is inevitable that the status of ‘arrangements’ and ‘transcriptions’ of canonic works remains questionable to many, even when undertaken by a player ...
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Review
Metamorphoses. Haydn: String Quartet in C major op.54 no.2. Ligeti: String Quartet no. 1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’. Brahms: Intermezzos: in A minor op.116 no.2 (arr. Judith van Driel), in E major op.1
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Austro–Hungarian connections for a Dutch quartet’s debut discMusicians: Dudok QuartetComposer: Haydn, Ligeti, Brahms (arr. Judith van Driel and David Faber)According to the booklet notes, the Métamorphoses of the disc’s title refer not just to Ligeti’s quartet but to the musical cross-culture of ...
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Review
Brahms: Violin Sonatas: no.2 in A major op.100, no.3 in D minor op.108. Dietrich/Schumann/Brahms: F.A.E.’ Sonata. Schumann: Three Romances op.94
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Faust and Melnikov finish their Brahms survey, eight years onMusicians: Isabelle Faust (violin) Alexander Melnikov (piano)Composer: Brahms, Dietrich/Schumann/Brahms, SchumannIsabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov complete their Brahms sonata cycle as they started (2007), with Faust playing a gut-strung 1704 Stradivari and Melnikov a ...
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Review
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major op.35; Méditation in D minor op.42 no.1
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Great Kogan performances, even if they are misidentifiedMusicians: Leonid Kogan (violin) Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux; Paris Conservatoire Orchestra/Constantin SilvestriComposer: Brahms, TchaikovskyThese great interpretations by the incomparable Leonid Kogan come with misinformation. The live Brahms Concerto from 11 January 1958, his US ...
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Brahms: Cello Sonatas: no.1 in E minor op.38; no.2 in F major op.99. Schumann: Fantasiestücke op.73
The Strad Issue: October 2015Description: Classical restraint in Romantic music for this French duo’s recording debutMusicians: Bruno Philippe (cello) Tanguy de Williencourt (piano)Composer: Brahms, SchumannTwo young French musicians offer promising and subtly interpreted performances of these central works of the Romantic cello repertoire for their debut disc.Bruno ...
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Review
Transcriptions for Strings. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Brahms: Clarinet Sonata in F minor op.120 no.1. Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C sharp minor op.3 no.2 (all arr. Cohen)
The Strad Issue: September 2015Description: String arrangement offers a new view of Mussorgsky’s picture galleryMusicians: Anna Hashimoto (clarinet) †¨Isis Ensemble/Jacques CohenComposer: Mussorgsky, Brahms, RachmaninoffYou’ll be struck straight away by the sound of unison bowed and plucked strings as the art lover marches purposefully into the Hartmann exhibition. ...
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Article
Roby Lakatos performs Brahms's Hungarian Dance no.5
Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos puts his unique stamp on Brahms's Fifth Hungarian Dance.Lakatos gives a guide to gypsy fusion playing in The Strad's September 2015 issue, out now - download through The Strad App