Recording reviews – Page 165
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ReviewJones: ?Chamber Airs for a Violin (and Thorough Bass)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Well-characterised performance of a mid-17th-century English collectionMusicians: Kreeta-Maria Kentala (violin) Lauri Pulakka (cello) Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord)Composer: Jones Richard Jones’s eight Chamber Airs are strikingly inventive. Comprising three or four movements, they are essentially Italianate in style, but also incorporate French dance elements ...
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ReviewKlengel: Capriccio for solo cello*, Three Pieces for two cellos & organ, Little Suite for three cellos, Impromptu for four cellos, Hymnus for twelve cellos. Bach: Sarabande from Suite no.5† . Tartini:
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A worthy tribute to a great cellist–composer and teacherMusicians: Raphael Wallfisch*, Julius Klengel† (cello) Cello Classics EnsembleComposer: Klengel, Bach, Tartini, Cossmann, PopperThis disc pays tribute to Julius Klengel (1859–1933). Born in Leipzig, he played in the city’s famous Gewandhaus Orchestra for ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartets in E flat major op.12, A minor op.13 & E flat major (1823)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An ebullient recording of Mendelssohn’s early music for quartetMusicians: Mandelring QuartetComposer: Mendelssohn The Mandelring Quartet, in concert or on disc, always achieves an instinctive internal balance, and here the players bring their distinctive blend and contrast of ...
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ReviewMozart: Duos for violin & viola in G major K423 & B flat major K424. Halvorsen: Passacaglia after Handel. Brustad: Capricci for violin & viola
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding disc of duos for violin and violaMusicians: Elise Bätnes (violin) Henninge Bätnes Landaas (viola)Composer: Mozart, Halvorsen, Brustad In many ways, this is a conventional disc: the Mozart duos are of course much recorded, and Halvorsen’s virtuosic Passacaglia ...
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ReviewVenice by Night. Works by Albinoni, Lotti, Pollarolo, Porta, Veracini & Vivaldi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A nocturnal celebration of the music of a great cityMusicians: La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler (violin/director) Mhairi Lawson (soprano) Simon Munday (trumpet) Peter Whelan (bassoon)Composer: Albinoni, Lotti, Pollarolo, Porta, Veracini & Vivaldi This compilation reflects the variety of musical fare on offer ...
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ReviewBach to Jazz. Works by Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ysaÿe, Sarasate, Monti, Kötscher/Plessow, Rodríguez, Ellington, Withers & Desmond
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A dance-based recital of varied violin repertoireMusicians: Caroline Adomeit (violin) Julian Riem (piano) Thomas Hastreiter (percussion)Composer: Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ysaÿe, Sarasate, Monti, Kötscher/Plessow, Rodríguez, Ellington, Withers & DesmondBach’s Third Partita and the 13 ‘encores’ that follow display the esoteric musical tastes of ...
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ReviewBuxtehude: Trio Sonatas op.2 BuxWV259—65
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Spontaneous-sounding accounts of a varied set of trio sonatasMusicians: Catherine Manson (violin) Paolo Pandolfo (viola da gamba) Ton Koopman (harpsichord/organ) Mike Fentross (lute)Composer: Buxtehude This latest release in Challenge Classics’s Buxtehude Opera Omnia project comprises the seven trio sonatas ...
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ReviewChopin: Cello Sonata in G minor op.65. Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Chalk and cheese in a coupling of Romantic warhorsesMusicians: Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes (cello) Constance Carroll (piano) Composer: Chopin, Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff fares better in the hands of Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes than Chopin, whose elegant phrases sound overloaded with emotion in ...
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ReviewReverie. Bottesini: Tarantella, Melodia, Allegretto capriccio, Elegia in D major, Capriccio di bravura, Introduzione e Gavotta, Grande allegro di concerto alla Mendelssohn, Reverie
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Subtlety and fireworks from a master bassistMusicians: Knut Erik Sundquist (double bass) Nils Anders Mortensen (piano)Composer: Bottesini This disc’s booklet relates how in 1978 the 16-year-old Norwegian Knut Erik Sundquist bought a Bottesini LP featuring Ludwig Streicher ...
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ReviewRococo Cello Variations. Beethoven: Variations on ‘Bei Männern’ WoO46, Variations on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ op.66. Gemrot: Ludwigsgruss, Variations on a Theme of Dvorák. Martinu: Variations on a
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A worthwhile exploration of cello variations let down by poor soundMusicians: Jeremy Findlay (cello) Per Rundberg (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Gemrot, MartinuThe concept of recording cello variations written across three centuries makes for interesting listening, and reveals the extent to which composers have progressively ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartets in A minor D804 ‘Rosamunde’ and D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Compelling coupling of two of Schubert’s best-known quartetsMusicians: Wihan QuartetComposer: Schubert Schubert remains one of the most elusive of pre-Romantic composers, not least in his mature string quartets. Emphasise the Classicist side of his nature and you ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Violin Concertos no.1 in A minor op.77 & no.2 in C sharp minor op.129
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An impressive pairing of two of Shostakovich’s darkest masterpiecesMusicians: Sayaka Shoji (violin) Ural Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitri LissComposer: Shostakovich Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji took first prize at the 1999 Paganini Competition, and her teachers have included Zakhar Bron and Shlomo Mintz. ...
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ReviewSprezzatura. Chihara: Viola Sonata. Siskind: Etwas für Bratsche (etwas rasch!). Britten: Lachrymae op.48. Hindemith: Viola Sonata (1939)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A disc that lives up to its name in making everything sound effortlessMusicians: Shelly Tramposh (viola) Cullan Bryant (piano)Composer: Chihara, Siskind, Britten, HindemithA term taken from Renaissance Italy’s courtly etiquette, sprezzatura is the art of making whatever you do appear easy. I ...
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ReviewVirtuoso Cello. Paganini: Moses Variations. Brahms: Hungarian Dance no.5. Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen op.20, Carmen Fantasy op.25. Wieniawski: Scherzo–tarantelle op.16. Monti: Czardas. Bazzini: The Round
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A disappointing recital of violin showpieces transferred to celloMusicians: Seeli Toivio (cello) Kalle Toivio (Piano)Composer: Paganini, Brahms, Sarasate, Wieniawski, Monti, BazziniThere is every reason for cellists to look towards the violin repertoire as a means of expanding their musical horizons, but some ...
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ReviewWarning: May Cause Mood Swings
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rather too uptight collection of string arrangementsMusicians: Saint Michael TrioComposer: Various Covers of everything from Ennio Morricone and Led Zeppelin to Gershwin via Stevie Wonder explain the album title here. But despite the variety of repertoire, the mood doesn’t ...
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ReviewWright: Violin Concerto (‘And then there was silence…’)*, Momentum*. Vaughan Williams: Symphony no.5 in D major†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A sensitive account of a new, commemorative concertoMusicians: Fenella Humphreys* (violin) Christopher Wilson* (tenor) Royal Scottish National Orchestra*, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra† /MartinuYatesComposer: Wright, Vaughan Williams Composed in memory of his violinist wife Ruth, who died of cancer in 2009, ...
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ReviewFive-Stringed Tenor Viola. Schubert: Sonata A minor D821 ‘Arpeggione’. Bach: Cello Suite no.6 BWV1012. Taneyev: Trio op.31
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A largely successful experiment in recreating a niche instrumentMusicians: Thomas Riebl (tenor viola) Erich Höbarth (violin) Predrag Katanic (viola) Mari Kato (piano)Composer: Schubert, Bach, Taneyev Thomas Riebl, viola professor at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, loves Schubert’s ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata so ...
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ReviewFratres. Stravinsky: Suite d’après des thèmes, fragments et morecaux de Giambattista Pergolesi. Dallapiccola: Tartiniana seconda. Reger: Suite in the Old Style op.93. Pärt: Fratres. Schnittke: Suite i
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A recital of new-meets-old music that needs more gutsinessMusicians: Szymon Krzeszowiec (violin) Niklas Sivelöv (piano)Composer: Stravinsky, Dallapiccola, Reger, Pärt, SchnittkeIt might have been a mistake for Polish violinist Szymon Krzeszowiec, leader of the Silesian Quartet and professor at Katowice’s Szymanowski Academy, to ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Piano Trios no.1 in D minor op.49 & no.2 in C minor op.66. Schumann: Studien für den Pedal-Flügel op.56 (arr. Kirchner)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Fire and lyricism characterise performances of Mendelssohn’s triosMusicians: Shaham–Erez–Wallfisch TrioComposer: Mendelssohn, Schumann (arr. Kirchner)For their recording debut as a trio, the cellist Raphael Wallfisch joins the long-established duo partnership of violinist Hagai Shaham and pianist Aron Erez in two of Mendelssohn’s most ...
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ReviewNeapolitan Cello Concertos. Leo: Cello Concerto in D minor. Fiorenza: Cello Concerto in B flat major, Sinfonia. Majo: Cello Concerto in F major. Sollima: Fecit Neap. 17..
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Techniques old and new come together on a disc of Baroque concertosMusicians: Giovanni Sollima (cello) I Turchini/Antonio FlorioComposer: Leo, Fiorenza, Majo, Sollima Giovanni Sollima is the spirited, dexterous soloist in three Baroque Neapolitan cello concertos, in performances that unashamedly ...
