Recording reviews – Page 149
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ReviewA Violino Solo. Works by Baltzar, Vilsmayr, Westhoff, Biber, Bach & Telemann
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Balanced collection of German Baroque music for solo violinMusicians: Thibault Noally (violin)Composer: Baltzar, Vilsmayr, Westhoff, Biber, Bach, Telemann Thibault Noally’s unpretentious period-instrument accounts of unaccompanied works by six 17th- and 18th-century German polyphonists display technical command and communicative musicianship. Baltzar’s brief Praeludium ...
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ReviewPavel Šporcl: My Violin Legends
Music by Kocian, Laub, Drdla, Kubelík, Ondříček, Příhoda, Sevcík & Šporcl
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ReviewJason Anick: Tipping Point
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A classy album dominated by jazz balladsMusicians: Jason Anick (violin/mandolin) Clay Lyons (alto saxophone) Kris Jensen (tenor saxophone) Lee Dynes (guitar) Jason Yeager, Matt DeChamplain (piano) Greg Loughman, Adam Cote (double bass) Mike Connors (drums)Composer: Jason AnickA respected player on the US ...
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ReviewBassic Bach. Bach: Cello Suites no.1 in G major BWV1007, no.4 in E flat major BWV1010 & no.5 in C minor BWV1011
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A disc that sets a new standard for solo Bach on double bassMusicians: DaXun Zhang (double bass)Composer: BachBach’s six solo suites stand at the summit of combined interpretative and technical virtuosity for the cello. Imagine, then, the myriad challenges involved in attempting to play ...
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ReviewThe Lark Ascending. Moeran: Violin Concerto. Delius: Légende. Holst: A Song of the Night op.19 no.1. Elgar: Chanson de matin op.15 no.2, Chanson de nuit op.15 no.1, Salut d’amour op.12. Vaughan Willia
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A renowned exponent of Romantic repertoire revives a neglected concertoMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew DavisComposer: Moeran, Delius, Holst, Elgar, Vaughan WilliamsThe Lark Ascending is the headliner here, but it wisely comes as a treat at the end, when that last ...
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ReviewSigns, Games + Messages. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages (excerpts); Játékok (excerpts); Tre pezzi. Bartók: Violin Sonata no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A largely absorbing recital that could have benefited from a little more fantasy and charmMusicians: Jennifer Koh (violin) Shai Wosner (piano)Composer: Janácek, Kurtág, Játékok, BartókRight from the start of this generously filled, folk-inspired disc, there’s no doubting the passion and intensity of ...
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ReviewSaint-Saëns: Violin Music vol.2 – Violin Sonata no.2 in E flat major op.102, Suite in D minor op.16, Romance in C major op.48, Violin Sonata (unfinished), Méditation, Le cygne
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Consummate artistry on display from a young French violinistMusicians: Fanny Clamagirand (violin) Vanya Cohen (piano)Composer: Saint-SaënsThis disc comprises a pleasing balance of well-known works and more unusual ones. It continues Fanny Clamagirand’s successful collaboration with Naxos (she has already recorded the Saint-Saëns ...
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ReviewHandel: Trio Sonatas op.2
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Uneven results in a survey of Handel’s chamber piecesMusicians: Brook Street BandComposer: HandelCapitalising on the sales-friendly flexibility of instrumentation implicit from the title page of Handel’s op.2, the Brook Street Band varies the constitution of its ensemble for sonatas nos.1 and 4, ...
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ReviewSchoenberg: Verklärte Nacht op.4, String Quartet no.1 op.7, Four Canons
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Winning accounts of some of Schoenberg’s seminal string worksMusicians: Fred Sherry Quartet & SextetComposer: SchoenbergHearing Schoenberg’s two early string masterpieces side by side, as here, makes one realise how far he had travelled as a composer in the five years that separate ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartets in E flat major D87, G minor D173, A minor D804 ‘Rosamunde’, D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’ & G major D887
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Welcome release of archive broadcast recordings from a vintage ensembleMusicians: Amadeus QuartetComposer: SchubertAudite’s series of the Amadeus Quartet’s radio archive recordings for RIAS–Berlin continues with fascinating snapshots of that ensemble’s Schubert performances between 1950 and 1964. These players penetrate well below the ...
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ReviewRomanian Journey?. Enescu: Impressions d’enfance op.28, Impromptu concertant, Andantino malinconico. Constantinescu: Sonatina. Jora: Suita mica op.3. Olah: Sonatina
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A masterly traversal of a challenging programme of Romanian violin musicMusicians: Vlad Stanculeasa (violin) Thomas Hoppe (piano)Composer: Enescu, Constantinescu, Jora, OlahViolin pedagogue George Enescu was a linchpin in generating international recognition for his country’s native music, largely through his own compositions. Here ...
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ReviewArensky: Piano Trio no.1 in D minor op.32. Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor op.50
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Ardour and restraint in perfect harmony in performances of two Russian triosMusicians: Wanderer TrioComposer: Arensky, TchaikovskyThe Wanderer Trio performs these works with all the Romantic expression they deserve, tempered with admirable musical intelligence. Arensky’s Trio sets off with dash and ...
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ReviewBach: Preludio from Partita in E major BWV1006 (arr. Boller). Bartók: Duos for two violins (excerpts). Berio: Duets for two violins (excerpts)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A strange experiment in audio and video that leaves too many unanswered questionsMusicians: Hansheinz Schneeberger (violin) Bettina Boller (violin/voice)Composer: Bach, Bartók, BerioIdiosyncratic doesn’t even come close. There are so many downright bizarre things about this new CD/Blu-ray package from Swiss violinists Hansheinz ...
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ReviewOpera Breve. Works by Falla, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Gluck, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Strauss, Gershwin, Saint-Saëns, Humperdinck & Raff
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A rewarding collection of musical lollipops from the operatic worldMusicians: Philippe Quint (violin) Lily Maisky (piano)Composer: Falla, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Gluck, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Strauss, Gershwin, Saint-Saëns, Humperdinck, RaffThirteen tracks of violin-and-piano arrangements, mainly devoted to excerpts from popular operas, do not make up the ...
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ReviewIlluminated Bass.? Schubert: ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata in A minor D821. Hindemith: Double Bass Sonata. Schumann: Three Romances op.94. Bottesini: Fantasia on ‘La sonnambula’. Michel: Myrna
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A stunning recital that displays the bass at its most agile and thrillingMusicians: Olivier Thiery (double bass) Sophie Labandibar (piano)Composer: Schubert, Hindemith, Schumann, Bottesini, MichelWith the original arpeggione safely out of the way, the sonata Schubert wrote for it is ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Complete Cello Sonatas & Variations, Horn Sonata in F major op.17 (arr. cello)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Fresh insights mark a long-awaited Beethovenian survey from a master cellistMusicians: Steven Isserlis (cello) Robert Levin (fortepiano)Composer: BeethovenWhy does it come as no surprise that a cellist of Isserlis’s stature has waited this long to commit Beethoven’s cello works to disc, and ...
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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: January 2014Description: A generally successful pairing of Brahms’s two sextetsMusicians: Pražák Quartet, Petr Holman (viola) Vladimír Fortin (cello)Composer: BrahmsThe expansive opening of Brahms’s B flat major Sextet is one of the great moments in chamber music and the all-Czech Pražák, joined by half of ...
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ReviewDuncan Chisholm: Live at Celtic Connections
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A powerful evocation of place in a live concert of Highland fiddle musicMusicians: Duncan Chisholm (violin/voice) Ross Hamilton (bass) Allan Henderson (piano/fiddle) Jarlath Henderson (Uilleann pipes/whistles) MartinuO’Neill (bodhrán) Matheu Watson (guitar), string & brass ensemble/Garry WalkerComposer: TraditionalAfter applause, a reverberating ...
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ReviewContactoTango. ?Beytelmann: Cinco piezas. Borda: El viento de verdad. Aguirre: Liberación. Varvello: Entrelazados. Piazzolla: Dos piezas breves, Le grand tango, Seis estudios tanguísticos
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A sonically vital survey of Argentinian tango repertoire on violaMusicians: Julia Rebekka Adler (viola) José Gallardo (piano)Composer: Piazzolla, Varvello, Aguirre, Borda, BeytelmannThe younger composers represented in this overview of Argentinian music are in audible debt to Astor Piazzolla, who is rightly given ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets in E minor op.59 no.2 & E flat major op.127
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A Beethoven quartet coupling with plenty to enjoyMusicians: Cremona QuartetComposer: BeethovenWe may have grown accustomed to closely recorded string quartets in a relatively dry acoustic, but this Audite release is quite different in its spacious and resonant perspective. Not one for those ...
