Recording reviews – Page 151
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ReviewRöntgen: Cello Concertos nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Three Romantically melodic concertos played with style Musicians: Gregor Horsch (cello) Netherlands Symphony Orchestra/David PorcelijnComposer: RöntgenJulius Röntgen (1855–1932), all but forgotten today, was a key player in German and Dutch musical life in his long and productive career. Although ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94b, Three Pieces from Romeo and Juliet op.64 (arr. Grjunes)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Accounts of Prokofiev that don’t quite hit the markMusicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin) Angela Yoffe (piano)Composer: Prokofiev Angela Yoffe introduces Prokofiev’s First Sonata in world-weary mood, but Vadim Gluzman eventually lifts the gloom with a delicate and wispy tracery. There are recordings of ...
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ReviewPerle: String Quartets no.2 in D minor op.14, no.5 & no.8 ‘Windows of Order’, Molto adagio
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Music for quartet from an American twelve-note pioneerMusicians: Daedalus QuartetComposer: Perle The music of highly regarded American composer George Perle (1915–2009, perhaps best remembered for his writings on Alban Berg) is not heard frequently on the ...
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ReviewTwentieth-century sonatas for cello and piano. Works by Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Consummate playing that mines a rich seam of British cello repertoireMusicians: Alexander Baillie (cello) John Thwaites (piano)Composer: Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys This release of 20th-century British cello sonatas, recorded over a six-day period ...
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ReviewMunch Suite. Pieces for solo violin by Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinsson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Kovác, Thommessen & Petitgirard
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An appealing presentation of modern music and fine artMusicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin)Composer: Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinuson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Ková?, Thommessen & PetitgirardThe organisers of Norway’s Vestfold International Festival in 2010 commissioned 15 new solo violin pieces for ...
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ReviewD. Matthews: Music for Solo Violin vol.1: Three Studies op.39, 15 Fugues op.88, Winter Journey op.32
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Solo violin works that run the gamut of technique and expressionMusicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin)Composer: D. MatthewsThis disc represents roughly half of David Matthews’s output for solo violin and highlights the composer’s insight into writing for the instrument, despite not being a player himself. ...
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ReviewKuusisto: Violin Concerto op.28, Leika op.24. Corigliano: Violin Concerto ‘The Red Violin’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Passionate accounts of two modern violin concertosMusicians: Elina Vähälä (violin) Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Jaakko KuusistoComposer: Kuusisto, Corigliano Jaakko Kuusisto originally conceived his Violin Concerto for himself, but then handed it over, and dedicated it, to Elina Vähälä. It follows a ...
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ReviewHandel's Concerti grossi op.6
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A novel approach to instrumentation can’t make up for lacklustre playingMusicians: Arcadia Ensemble/Kevin Mallon (violin/director)Composer: HandelThis take on Handel’s op.6 concerto grosso set from this Toronto-based period-instrument ensemble not only includes the composer’s oboe parts for nos.1, 2, 5 and 6, but also ...
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ReviewGlière: Complete Duets with Cello: Eight Duets for violin and cello op.39, Ballade for cello and piano op.4, Ten Duets for two cellos op.53, Twelve Album Leaves for cello and piano op.51
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Committed accounts of duos for various combinationsMusicians: MartinuRummel, Alexander Hülshoff (cello) Friedemann Eichhorn (violin) Till Alexander Körber (piano)Composer: Glière As Reinhold Glière was a student of Arensky and Taneyev, it’s little wonder that he was steeped ...
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ReviewEnescu: Piano Quintet op.29, Piano Trio in A minor, Aria and Scherzino
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Rare chamber works in scintillating performancesMusicians: Schubert Ensemble, Remus Azoitei (violin)Composer: EnescuEnescu wrote much music that he never heard or never had published, and manuscripts of long-lost chamber works still appear from time to time. Of the three pieces here, only the ...
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ReviewPolish Violin Music. Works by Zarzycki, Noskowski, Drozdzewski, Górecki, Paderewski, Lutoslawski & Lipinski
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A fascinating traversal of a century and a half of virtuoso music from PolandMusicians: Kinga Augustyn (violin) Efi Hackmey (piano)Composer: Zarzycki, Noskowski, Drozdzewski, Górecki, Paderewski, Lutoslawski & Lipinski Five of these short works here receive world-premiere recordings. Aleksander ...
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ReviewBrahms: Viola Sonata in F minor op.120 no.1. Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 (arr. viola). Franck: Violin Sonata in A major (arr. viola)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A viola disc making a good case for ‘borrowing’ sonatas from other instrumentsMusicians: Tabea Zimmermann (viola) Kirill Gerstein (piano)Composer: Brahms, Schubert, FranckThese sonatas were written for other instruments, but two of them have long been incorporated into the viola’s repertoire, and most violists ...
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ReviewBloch: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2 ‘Poème mystique’, Nigun from Baal Shem. Pärt: Fratres
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Persuasive accounts of the Swiss composer’s violin masterpiecesMusicians: Elsa Grether (violin) Ferenc Vizi (piano) Composer: Bloch, PärtErnest Bloch’s Second Violin Sonata takes the listener on an exotic, dramatic musical journey. It is music well suited to the sensitivity of the young French violinist ...
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ReviewBerg: String Quartet op.3. Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major op.74. Bartók: String Quartet no.1 op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A welcome new release of a great ensemble’s early concert appearanceMusicians: Tokyo QuartetComposer: Berg, Beethoven, Bartók No sooner do we wave farewell to the Tokyo Quartet than it appears on CD back at the beginning again. This is a recital ...
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ReviewBeethoven's Violin Sonatas (complete)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A Beethoven sonata survey that doesn’t quite match the best availableMusicians: Barbara Govatos (violin) Marcantonio Barone (piano)Composer: Beethoven Seasoned Philadelphia-based duo Barbara Govatos and Marcantonio Barone chart the course of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with firm musical values and remarkably accomplished ...
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ReviewYsaÿe: Six Sonatas op.27
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Irreproachable interpretations of Ysaÿe’s solo violin masterpiecesMusicians: Kristóf Baráti (violin)Composer: YsaÿeKristóf Baráti is recorded with exemplary presence in a seductively enveloping acoustic – it feels as though the young Hungarian violinist is standing in the room with you, and the range of dynamics and ...
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ReviewHindemith: Violin Concerto, Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertmusik op.50
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Starry advocacy of a neglected 20th-century violin concertoMusicians: Midori (violin) NDR Symphony Orchestra/Christoph EschenbachComposer: HindemithWe hear far too little of Midori on disc nowadays, so it is especially welcome that she has chosen a work that despite distinguished advocacy on disc from ...
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ReviewAmerican Anthem. Barber: String Quartet op.11, Serenade for string quartet op.1, Dover Beach op.3. Hanson: String Quartet op.23, Concerto da camera op.7. Thompson: Alleluia
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A rewarding programme of American music based around the string quartetMusicians: Ying Quartet, Adam Neiman (piano) Randall Scarlata (baritone)Composer: Barber, Hanson, ThompsonThe starting point of this homage to American chamber music is Barber’s op.11 String Quartet, the second movement of ...
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ReviewSaint-Saëns: Piano Quartet in B flat major op.41, Barcarolle in F major op.108, Piano Quintet in A minor op.14
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Gentle accounts performed with Romantic relishMusicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano)Composer: Saint-SaënsThe Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz find much that is gentle amid the hot-bloodedness of Saint-Saëns’s chamber music. The opening of the B flat major Piano Quartet is seductive, and the ...
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ReviewPrevin: Two Little Serenades. Gould Bassoon Sonata (arr. ?mietana). Bach: Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Impeccable technique and intonation in a wide-ranging recitalMusicians: Alicja ?mietana (violin) Evelyne Berezovsky (piano) Composer: Previn, Gould (arr. ?mietana), Bach, PärtThis is the type of programme we hear all too often as young performers seek to show that they are ...
