Recording reviews – Page 137
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ReviewWolf: Italian Serenade. Grieg: String Quartet no.1 in G minor op.27. Janácek: String Quartet no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Mixed results in three varied masterpieces of the quartet repertoireMusicians: Amphion QuartetComposer: Wolf, Grieg, JanácekConvincingly linking the very disparate sections within Grieg’s four-movement structure, the New York-based Amphion Quartet gives a highly impressive account of the composer’s youthfully passionate First Quartet. Having ...
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ReviewCorelli: The ‘Assisi’ Sonatas
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Disputed early sonatas provide virtuoso opportunitiesMusicians: Aurora EnsembleComposer: CorelliScholars have hotly debated the provenance of a manuscript of twelve sonatas attributed to Corelli, discovered in 1963 by Mario Fabbri in the library of Assisi’s Franciscan monastery. Musicologist Hans Joachim Marx considered these ...
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ReviewChevillard: Violin Sonata in G minor op.8. Fauré: Violin Sonata no.1 in A major op.13. Gedalge: Violin Sonata no.1 in G major op.12
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Father-and-son duo offers a pair of rarely heard French sonatasMusicians: Jean-Jacques Kantorow (violin) Alexandre Kantorow (piano)Composer: Chevillard, Fauré, GedalgeThere is a radiance in the quality of sound and performance of three late 19th-century French sonatas from the recently formed Kantorow duo, the ...
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ReviewNew York Philharmonic Presents: The Glenn Dicterow Collection Vol.1. Bruch: Violin Concerto no.1. Bartók: Violin Concerto no.1. Korngold: Violin Concerto. Williams: Theme from Schindler’s List
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: A parting gift from the New York Phil to its long-serving concertmasterMusicians: Glenn Dicterow (violin) New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Lorin Maazel, Alan Gilbert, David Robertson, John WilliamsComposer: Bruch, Bartók, Korngold, WilliamsWhat do you give your concertmaster of 34 years when he moves on? ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartet in A minor op.132 – ‘Heiliger Dankgesang’ (arr A Far Cry). Golijov: The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Hildegard of Bingen: O ignis spiritus paracliti (arr A Far Cry).
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Heart-on-sleeve playing from a Boston-based string ensembleMusicians: A Far Cry, David Krakauer (clarinet)Composer: Beethoven, Golijov, Hildegard of Bingen, SanlikolIf you like your music cool-headed, objective and analytical, this won’t be for you. If, on the other hand, you go for passionate, hyper-detailed ...
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ReviewMoments of Youth. Bach: Cello Suite no.3 in C major BWV1009. Schumann: Fantasiestücke op.73. Fauré: Élégie. Haydn: Adagio from Cello Concerto no.2 in D major. Cassadó: Requiebros. Piazzolla: Le grand
Description: Debut recital from a teenage cellist – but has he been captured too early?Musicians: Brendan Goh (cello) Reinhard Schobesberger (piano)Composer: Bach, Schumann, Fauré, Haydn, Cassadó, Piazzolla, PaganiniBrendan Goh is clearly a cellist with some promise. At the age of 15 he is already in his first year ...
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ReviewFrom A to Z. Assad: Dreamscapes. Bolcom: Romanza. Daugherty: Fallingwater. Zwilich: Commedia dell’arte
The Strad Issue: April 2015Description: New works for a new century, presented with clarity and vigourMusicians: New Century Chamber Orchestra/Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (violin)Composer: Assad, Bolcom, Daugherty, ZwilichViolinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has commissioned several new works since becoming music director of the San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra (NCCO) in ...
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ReviewSchumann: String Quartets nos.1–3 op.41
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A swift but expressive approach to Schumann’s three quartetsMusicians: Ying QuartetComposer: SchumannOn first acquaintance, the Ying Quartet’s tempos seem uncommonly fast, particularly so in the finale to the First Quartet, where there is a breathless urgency. Checking them against Schumann’s metronome markings, ...
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ReviewTime Reflexion. Works by Rust, El-Khoury, Leclair, Stamitz, Tanguy and Narekatsi
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Old and new combined by this Armenian violinist and friendsMusicians: Chouchane Siranossian (violin) with Rüdiger Lotter (baroque violin) Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabedian (violin) Levon Chatikyan (duduk)Composer: Rust, El-Khoury, Leclair, Stamitz, Tanguy and NarekatsiIf pretentious titles usually put you off heterogeneous concept albums, ...
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ReviewStenhammar: String Quartets vol.2: no.1 in C major op.2; no.2 in C minor op.14
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Scandinavian players do their namesake proud as they continue their explorationMusicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: StenhammarThe Stenhammar Quartet has an eponymous obligation to do justice to Wilhelm Stenhammar’s quartets, and indeed it does in this disc that follows up the ensemble’s vol.1 ...
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ReviewMozart: Complete Violin Concertos; Sinfonia concertante K364
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Clean and clear readings of Mozart’s violin concertos and ConcertanteMusicians: Rachel Barton Pine (violin) Matthew Lipman (viola) Academy of St Martinuin the Fields/Neville MarrinerComposer: MozartThis double-disc set is a mixture of old and new. On the one hand, it represents an established ...
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ReviewBeamish: Seavaigers. Stout/McKay: Moder Dy
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Contrasting works that take a folk–classical approachMusicians: Chris Stout (violin), Catriona McKay (Scottish harp) Scottish EnsembleComposer: Beamish, Stout/McKayChris Stout and Catriona McKay are firm fixtures on Scotland’s folk scene and, more specifically, in Shetland, where their string band Fiddlers’ Bid ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Sonatas in C major K296 & B flat major K454. Stravinsky: Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Fire and ice on display in music by two contrasting composersMusicians: Esther Hoppe (violin) Alasdair Beatson (piano)Composer: Mozart, StravinskyAlasdair Beatson is the more prominent protagonist in the two Mozart sonatas but Esther Hoppe admirably complements his perceptive playing in their various exchanges, ...
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ReviewMeyer: Sounds of Being
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Stylish, philosophical new works for virtual viola ensembleMusicians: Jessica Meyer (viola, loop pedal, vocals)Composer: MeyerMaking an album of new music for solo viola is a brave move. But New York violist and composer Jessica Meyer builds a sound world with each piece ...
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ReviewShostakovich: String Quartets nos.14 op.142 & 15 op.144; Two Pieces op.36
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: The Czech ensemble offers rapt readings of Shostakovich’s last quartetsMusicians: Pražák QuartetComposer: ShostakovichThe two Shostakovich quartets on this recording are described in the booklet as his last diptych, although the proofreader missed the wild inaccuracy of his dates, given here as 1841–1904, ...
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ReviewLeclair: Sonatas for two unaccompanied violins op.3
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Proficient performances of Leclair’s Italian–French fusionsMusicians: Anima ConcordiaComposer: LeclairHusband-and-wife Baroque violin duo Paul Herrera and Kaori Toda form a technically assured and cohesive partnership in these accounts of Leclair’s Six Sonatas op.3. They thoroughly acknowledge Leclair’s marriage of Italian and French styles ...
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ReviewLittle Girl Blue: From Nina Simone
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A cellist’s tribute to the music of a great jazz singer–songwriterMusicians: Sonia Wieder-Atherton (cello) Bruno Fontaine (piano) Laurent Kraif (percussion)Composer: Nina SimoneCellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton continues her impressively varied output on the Naïve label with a new project to follow recordings of music ...
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ReviewGadenstätter: bersten/platzen. Koglmann: Days of Yore. Osborne: Roma Diaries
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Contemporary works performed by their committed dedicateeMusicians: Florian Kitt (cello) Aima Maria Labra-Makk (piano)Composer: Gadenstätter, Koglmann, OsborneBursting/splitting is the usefully if uncomfortably graphic title of Clemens Gadenstätter’s 25-minute work of 2012, apparently divided into four sections. Coherence is hard to establish from ...
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ReviewFauré: Piano Quartet no.1 in C minor op.15. Bonis: Piano Quartet no.1 op.69
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Fauré’s First Piano Quartet and a delightful discovery from a contemporary of DebussyMusicians: Giardini Piano QuartetComposer: Fauré, BonisThere are many good things on this recording. The playing is fluid and often extremely beautiful, the tone sweet and appealing. First impressions, sadly, are ...
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ReviewThe Catalan Virtuoso. Cervera-Bret: Elegía, Romanza, Nocturno, Reverie, Berceuse, Recuerdo de Londres, Cielo gris, Introducción y tarantel-la, Fascinación, El carnival de Venecia
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Virtuoso bass playing in rarely heard Catalan miniaturesMusicians: Leon Bosch (double bass) Sung-Suk Kang, Min-Jung Kym (piano)Composer: Cervera-BretThe double bassist–composer Josep Cervera-Bret (1883–1969) is the least known of the trio of virtuosos (the others were Pedro Valls and Anton Torello) who comprised ...
