Recording reviews – Page 168
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ArticleAlfano: Violin Sonata in D major, Piano Quintet in A flat major, Nenia, Scherzino
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Chamber works from an Italian operatic composerMusicians: Elmira Darvarova, Mary Ann Mumm (violin) Craig Mumm (viola) Samuel Magill (cello) Scott Dunn (piano)Composer: AlfanoAlthough his name is remembered today almost exclusively for completing Puccini’s last great opera Turandot, Franco Alfano (1875–1954) was a ...
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ArticleKurtág: Complete works for string quartet: Arioso – Hommage Á Walter Levin 85, 6 Moments musicaux, Hommage Á Jacob Obrecht, Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky, Aus der Ferne III & V, Hom
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A winning exploration of the work of a master miniaturistMusicians: Athena QuartetComposer: KurtágGyörgy Kurtág’s intricately crafted and condensed works for string quartet reflect his debt to Webern: each small gesture is heavy with intent. The works span from his First Quartet, written ...
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ArticlePenderecki: Viola Concerto, Cello Concerto no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Two striking concertos characteristic of Penderecki’s later, post-modernist styleMusicians: Grigori Zhislin (viola) Tatiana Vasilieva (cello) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni WitComposer: PendereckiPenderecki opens his 1983 Viola Concerto in a strikingly intense manner, with the orchestra answered by the solo viola using an emotionally turbulent ...
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ArticlePizzetti: String Quartets nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A generally enjoyable introduction to the music of a neglected Italian composerMusicians: Lajtha QuartetComposer: PizzettiOn this showing, the Respighi contemporary Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880–1968) has been unjustly ignored. The sunny String Quartet no.1 was written in 1906, when Pizzetti was in his mid-20s, ...
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ArticlePurcell: Twelve Sonatas in Three Parts
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A superlative account of some of the 17th-century master’s chamber musicMusicians: Retrospect TrioComposer: PurcellEven though more of his music is being performed and recorded than ever before, Purcell still hasn’t quite attained (at least in some circles) the level of recognition he ...
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ArticleRavel: Violin Sonata in A major, Violin Sonata in G major, Tzigane, Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré. Lekeu: Violin Sonata in G major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Sultry Ravel meets heated Lekeu in an outstanding collection of performancesMusicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) Cédric Tiberghien (piano)Composer: Ravel, LekeuThis must count as one of the most satisfying surveys of Ravel’s complete violin music in the catalogue. Alina Ibragimova brings a ...
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ArticleBach to Tango. Works by Bach, Piazzolla, Dvorák, Rodygin, Brahms, Elgar, Kreisler, Bernstein, Gardner, Gershwin, Dyens & J. Gade
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An uneven programme does little to hide the obvious skills of a young fiddlerMusicians: Caroline Adomeit (violin) Rochus Holewik (piano)Composer: Bach, Piazzolla, Dvorák, Rodygin, Brahms, Elgar, Kreisler, Bernstein, Gardner, Gershwin, Dyens & J. Gade The young German violinist Caroline Adomeit ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2, Viola Concerto
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A rare collection of all three Bartók string concertos from a single soloistMusicians: James Ehnes (violin/viola) BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea NosedaComposer: BartókJames Ehnes takes a Romantic view of Bartók’s First Violin Concerto, with sensual phrasing and a rich, glowing tone. The first ...
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ArticleBassolo. Works by R. Gabry?, Szalonek, Boguslawski, Cage, Grisey, Lauck, Dziadek, Roth, Scelsi, Oehring, Pritchard, Knüsel, Lee, Iršai & Xenakis
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Ear-bending playing from a master of the double bassMusicians: Aleksander Gabry? (double bass) Consuelo Giulianelli (harp) Jürg Henneberger, Daniel Buess (piano) Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra/Czeslaw Grabowski, Camerata Impuls Chamber Orchestra/Malgorzata KaniowskaComposer: R. Gabry?, Szalonek, Boguslawski, Cage, Grisey, Lauck, Dziadek, Roth, ...
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ArticleBeethoven by Arrangement. Beethoven: Viola Sonata fragment in A major, Horn Sonata op.17 (arr. Silverthorne), Notturno op.42 (arr. Kleinheinz), Grand Duo in E flat major op.20 (arr. Hermann/Silverthor
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An enjoyable collection that reminds us that Beethoven played the viola in his youthMusicians: Paul Silverthorne (viola) David Owen Norris (piano)Composer: BeethovenAlthough Beethoven, in his youth a violist in the Bonn orchestra, did begin to write a viola sonata, he unfortunately only ...
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ArticleBoccherini: String Quintets in E major op.11 no.5 & C major op.30 no.6, String Quartet in G minor op.32 no.5, Guitar Quintet in D major
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Refined performances that celebrate Boccherini’s Spanish connectionMusicians: Casals Quartet, Eckart Runge (cello) Carles Trepat (guitar) Daniel Tummer (castanets)Composer: Boccherini As we have come to expect from the Casals Quartet, these are refined, elegant and admirably precise performances, with ...
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ArticleCzech Music for strings. Janácek: Suite, String Quartet no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ (arr. Tognetti). Haas: Study. Martinu: Sextet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A small-scale string orchestra triumphs in a programme of Czech musicMusicians: Janácek Chamber Orchestra/Jakub ?ernohoský (violin/director)Composer: Janácek, Haas, MartinuThe more players there are in a string orchestra, the easier it tends to be to hide slackness in unanimity of attack ...
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ArticleSchubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 (arr. Tabakova). Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme op.33 (arr. Rysanov). Bruch: Romance in F major op.85
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: All-round success for a disc of music for viola and orchestraMusicians: Maxim Rysanov (viola) Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Muhai TangComposer: Schubert, Tchaikovsky, BruchHere is one of those recorded occasions where everything seems to have gone well. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra plays with ...
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ArticleStrauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major op.18. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Warmly rounded accounts of two Romantic violin sonatasMusicians: Catherine Manoukian (violin) Xiayin Wang (piano)Composer: Strauss, FranckThe raw-edged, fresh tone of Canadian-born, former Dorothy DeLay pupil Catherine Manoukian suits the tempestuous Romanticism of these sonatas by Strauss and Franck, and in Xiayin Wang ...
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ArticleDavies: Linguae ignis, Vesalii icones, Fantasia on a Ground and Two Pavans (after Purcell)
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The solo cello plays a leading role in some theatrical instrumental worksMusicians: Vittorio Ceccanti (cello) Contempoartensemble/Mauro CeccantiComposer: DaviesNaxos continues its rich association with Peter Maxwell Davies with works for solo cello and instrumental ensemble, in music that is steeped in ritual. The ...
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ArticleEastern Europe: A Musical Journey. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Bartók: Fuga from Sonata for solo violin. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 op.25. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel. Brahms: Hungarian Dances nos.1, 17, 19
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A free-spirited traversal of repertoire bound together by geographyMusicians: Alda Dizdari (violin) Tom Blach (piano)Composer: Janácek, Bartók, Enescu, Pärt, Brahms (transcr. Joachim)Alda Dizdari has made quite a musical journey of her own, from her native Albania to Romania, where she discovered the ...
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ArticleH.D. Koppel: Ternio op.53b, Introduction, Theme with Variations and Epilogue op.86, Cello Sonata op.62. B. Koppel: Professor Herman’s Cellistic Imaginarium
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Inventive cello music by two generations of a Danish familyMusicians: Morten Zeuthen (cello) Amalie Malling (piano)Composer: H.D. Koppel, B. KoppelHerman D. Koppel (1908–98) was a self-trained Danish composer whose music was inspired by Hindemith, Bartók and Nielsen. He was also a concert ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op. 20
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Sensitive and well-judged period-instrument performances of HaydnMusicians: London Haydn QuartetComposer: HaydnThe players of the London Haydn Quartet, formed in 2001, refer modestly in their booklet notes to gut strings and Classical bows, saying relatively little about performing practice, but in this respect ...
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ArticleItalia. Vivaldi: Violin Concerto ‘Grosso Mogul’, Violin Concerto in A minor, Summer from The Four Seasons, Vedro con mio diletto, Nulla in mundo pax sincera. Tartini: ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata, Violin Co
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An enjoyable collection of Baroque repertoire from a young virtuosoMusicians: Nicola Benedetti (violin) Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Christian CurnynComposer: Vivaldi, Tartini, VeraciniNicola Benedetti, a Scot of Italian parentage, is quite at home in this collection of Italian Baroque music in the company of the ...
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ArticleKodály: Sonata for solo cello op.8, Cello Sonata op.4, Duo for violin and cello op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Virtuoso accounts of Kodály’s classic works for stringsMusicians: Thelma Handy (violin) Lionel Handy (cello) Nigel Clayton (piano)Composer: KodályWhen, six months before the end of World War I, Kodály’s Duo for violin and cello and Sonata for solo cello were premiered in Budapest, ...
