Recording reviews – Page 131
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ReviewRomance oubliée. Sitt: Albumblätter op.39. Glazunov: Elegy op.44. Vierne: Two Pieces. Vieuxtemps: Élégie op.30. Wieniawski: Rêverie. Liszt: Romance oubliée. Kreisler: Romance; Aucassin et Nicolette. K
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Zimmermann takes a break from Hindemith with a selection of viola lollipopsMusicians: Tabea Zimmermann (viola) Thomas Hoppe (piano)Composer: SItt, Glazunov, Vierne, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Liszt, Kreisler, KodályIn contrast to her Hindemithian labours of the last couple of years, for this recording ...
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ReviewJohanna Martzy Vol.3. Works by Vivaldi, Szymanowski, Martinu¯, Ravel, Bartók, Brahms, Falla, Mozart, Bach & Suk
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Welcome exposure for the artistry of a neglected Hungarian virtuosoMusicians: Johanna Martzy (violin) Adolph Hallis, István Hajdu (piano) Stuttgart Radio Orchestra/Hans Müller-Kray, Netherlands Radio Orchestra/Willem van Otterloo, New York Philharmonic/André Cluytens, Cleveland Orchestra/George SzellComposer: Vivaldi, Szymanowski, Martinu¯, Ravel, Bartók, Brahms, Falla, Mozart, ...
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ReviewMozart: String Quartet no.21 in D major K575. Ives: String Quartet no.2. Verdi: String Quartet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A brilliant young quartet in contrasting works from three centuriesMusicians: Schumann QuartetComposer: Mozart, Ives, VerdiThis is the Schumann Quartet’s eagerly awaited follow-up to its outstanding 2013 debut disc of Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms. Lithe, tonally transparent, sparklingly articulated, finely vibratoed, ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3; Scherzo from ‘F–A–E’ Sonata
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Dumay returns to Brahms with yet more revealing resultsMusicians: Augustin Dumay (violin) Louis Lortie (piano)Composer: BrahmsWith two fine recordings of these timeless scores already safely under his belt (on EMI/Warner with Michel Béroff and on Deutsche Grammophon, minus the ‘F–A–E’ ...
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ReviewVaughan Williams: Violin Concerto, The Lark Ascending. Elgar: Introduction and Allegro, Serenade for Strings
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: A disappointing revival of a little-known concertoMusicians: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) Orchestra of the Swan/David CurtisComposer: Vaughan Williams, ElgarWritten for Jelly d’Arányi (who, the composer thought, took scant advantage of her six-month exclusive performing period), Vaughan Williams’s Violin Concerto has few champions even ...
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ReviewNozeman: Sonatas for violin and basso continuo op.2
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Demonstrative and colourful approach to Nozeman’s second opusMusicians: Antoinette Lohman (violin) Furor MusicusComposer: NozemanThese stylish accounts of the op.2 Sonatas by Jacobus Nozeman (1693–1745) use a rich diversity of continuo instruments to striking effect. Although the technical stakes are higher than in ...
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ReviewUstvolskaya: Sonata for violin and piano, Trio for clarinet, violin and piano, Duet for violin and piano
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Committed playing makes this uncompromising music a compelling experienceMusicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Reto Bieri (clarinet) Markus Hinterhäuser (piano)Composer: UstvolskayaThe reclusive Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya had not yet hit her notoriously raw, intense stride in the three early string-focused works on this astonishing ...
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ReviewSculthorpe: Complete String Quartets with Didjeridu: no.12 ‘From Ubirr’, no.14 ‘Quamby’, no.16 & no.18
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: An unusual combination of instruments brings gripping resultsMusicians: Del Sol Quartet, Stephen Kent (didgeridoo)Composer: SculthorpeIt’s an eyebrow-raising combination – string quartet and didgeridoo. But it’s one that this excellent CD (and Blu-ray audio) set makes a strong case for – in Sculthorpe’s ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Cello Sonata in C major op.119, Waltz from The Stone Flower (arr. Limonov), March from The Love for Three Oranges (arr. Limonov), Adagio from Cinderella (arr. Rostropovich). Kabalevsky: Cel
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: An excellent follow-up to a debut disc that completes the great Russian cello sonata triptychMusicians: Leonard Elschenbroich (cello) Alexei Grynyuk, Petr Limonov (piano) Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew LittonComposer: Prokofiev, KabalevskyLeonard Elschenbroich and Alexei Grynyuk, whose 2013 debut recording (also on Onyx) comprised Shostakovich ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Piano Quartets no.1 in C minor & no.3 in B minor, Largo and Allegro in D minor
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Early Mendelssohn that might have been lifted by more inspiring playingMusicians: Gabriele Pieranunzi, Daniela Cammarano (violin) Francesco Fiore (viola) Shana Downes (cello) Roberto Prosseda (piano)Composer: MendelssohnMendelssohn’s extraordinary precocity is amply demonstrated on this disc. Presented in counter-chronological order, it starts with the ...
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ReviewMessages. A. Panufnik: String Quartets no.1, no.2 ‘Messages’ & no.3 ‘Wycinanki’, Song to the Virgin Mary (arr. A. Panufnik)1, Prayer (arr. R. Panufnik). R. Panufnik Memories of My Father
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: A celebration of a composing father-and-daughter relationshipMusicians: Brodsky Quartet, Robert Smissen (viola) Richard May (cello)Composer: A. Panufnik, R. PanufnikReleased to mark the centenary of Andrzej Panufnik’s birth, this disc features all three of his string quartets, a form he resisted until his ...
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ReviewSolo. Kodály: Solo Cello Sonata op.8. Golijov: Omaramor. Cassadó: Suite for solo cello. Sheng: Seven Tunes Heard in China
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: A highly rewarding disc of works for solo celloMusicians: Alisa Weilerstein (cello)Composer: Kodály, Golijov, Cassadó, ShengFor her third disc, Alisa Weilerstein goes it alone, with two classics of the solo cello repertoire from the early 20th century and two more personal choices ...
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ReviewCaprice viennois. Kreisler: Marche miniature viennoise, Liebesfreud, Liebesleid, Caprice viennois op.2. Brahms: Hungarian Dance no.1 in G minor (arr. for violin and piano). Ravel: Tzigane. Enescu: Vio
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Insouciance and integrity distinguish a young violinist’s debut recital discMusicians: Luka Kusztrich (violin) Dora Deliyska (piano)Composer: Kreisler, Brahms, Ravel, EnescuA former pupil of Dora Schwarzberg (he is currently studying with Gerhard Schulz), Vienna-born Luka Kusztrich is clearly a young talent to watch. ...
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ReviewVoices in the Wilderness. Gal: Viola Sonata op.101, Impromptu, Suite op.102a. Krenek: Viola Sonata op.117, Solo Viola Sonata op.92 no.3
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Rare viola repertoire from two mid-20th-century exilesMusicians: Roger Benedict (viola) Timothy Young (piano)Composer: Gal, KrenekThis recording brings together the music of two Viennese composers who shared the fate of having to flee central Europe as the Nazis rose to power. Hans Gál ...
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ReviewFranck: Violin Sonata in A major. Grieg: Violin Sonata no.3 in C minor op.45. Dvorák: Romantic Pieces op.75
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Masterly accounts of three Romantic masterpiecesMusicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)Composer: Franck, Grieg, DvorákThis is a strong performance of Franck’s Violin Sonata. The first-movement Allegretto, for all its undoubted poetic sensitivity, is forthright and forward-moving, with firm direction and shape. Khatia ...
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ReviewBrahms: String Sextets no.1 in B flat major op.18 & no.2 in G major op.36
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Performances that could have benefited from greater depthMusicians: Sine Nomine Quartet, Nicolas Pache (viola) François Guye (cello)Composer: BrahmsThis Lausanne-based ensemble provides a pleasant disc of Brahms’s essays in the string sextet medium. Things begin well enough with op.36, arguably the more successful ...
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ReviewDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104, Romantic Pieces op.75 (arr. Müller-Schott), Silent Woods op.68 no.5, Rondo in G minor op.94, Slavonic Dance op.46 no.8, Songs My Mother Taught Me op.55 no.4
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Interesting couplings go some way to making up for an over-earnest concerto performanceMusicians: Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) Robert Kulek (piano) NDR Symphony Orchestra/Michael SanderlingComposer: DvorákWith well over a hundred recordings of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in the catalogue – many from fine cellists – ...
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ReviewPrayer. Bloch: From Jewish Life (orch. Palmer), ‘Nigun’ from Baal Shem no.2 (orch. Purich), Méditation hébraïque, Schelomo. Shostakovich: From Jewish Folk Poetry (selection, arr. Bronner). Casals: Son
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Idiomatic playing on a disc centred on Bloch’s Hebrew worksMusicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson, Orchestre National de Lyon/Leonard Slatkin, Amsterdam Sinfonietta Cello EnsembleComposer: Bloch, Shostakovich, CasalsSol Gabetta has truly got under the skin of Bloch’s Hebraically inspired compositions, understanding their ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets in F major op.59 no.1, in E minor op.59 no.2, in C major op.59 no.3, in E flat major op.74 & in F minor op.95
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Disappointingly safe accounts of the middle-period quartetsMusicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: BeethovenThe Cypress Quartet celebrated its 15th anniversary with a three-CD set of Beethoven’s late quartets in which the playing is technically refined, if occasionally ‘underwhelming’, with ‘a degree of ordinariness’ (as reviewed in ...
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ReviewSchumann: String Quartets in A minor op.41 no.1, F major op.41 no.2 & A major op.41 no.3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Performances that bring out the Romantic urgency of Schumann’s writingMusicians: Hermès QuartetComposer: SchumannThe Hermès Quartet finds plenty of drama in Schumann’s quartets, and the players like to keep things moving. The First Quartet moves from the still, small voice of ...
