Recording reviews – Page 182
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ArticleBach: The Art of Fugue BWV1080, Chorale ‘Aus tiefer Not’
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Bach’s monument to counterpoint receives a textural makeoverMusicians: Akademie für Alte Musik BerlinComposer: BachMore than with any other composer, the music of Bach seems to withstand everything that ?is inflicted upon it, and ?here his great testament ?The Art of Fugue is offered ...
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ArticleDittersdorf Violone Concerto no.1 in E flat major. Hoffmeister, Violone Concerto no.1 in E flat major. Vanhal: Double Bass Concerto in E flat major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The Berlin Philharmonic’s whizzkid bassist plays a trio of rare concertosMusicians: Edicson Ruiz (double bass) Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Christian VásquezComposer: Dittersdorf, Hoffmeister, VanhalOne of the ‘bright young things’ featured in January’s Strad, Edicson Ruiz here makes good his intention of ...
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ArticleEchoes of Paris. Poulenc: Violin Sonata op.119. Stravinsky: Suite after Themes, Fragments and Pieces by Pergolesi. Debussy: Violin Sonata. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.2 in D major op.94b
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A celebration of Franco–Russian music with Parisian connectionsMusicians: Augustin Hadelich (violin) Robert Kulek (piano)Composer: Poulenc, Stravinsky, Debussy, ProkofievDespite the rather cheesy title, this is a disc that can’t fail to please lovers of the early 20th-century French and Russian greats. Augustin Hadelich ...
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ArticleEchoes of Time. Shostakovich: Violin Concerto no.1 in A minor op.77, Lyrical Waltz (arr. T. Batiashvili). Kancheli: V & V. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel*. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise*
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Shostakovich’s harrowing First Violin Concerto is at the heart of a nuanced discMusicians: Lisa Batiashvili (violin) Hélène Grimaud (piano)* Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Esa-Pekka SalonenComposer: Shostakovich, Kancheli, Pärt, Rachmaninoff It should come as no surprise that the ‘filler’ tracks on this enthralling disc ...
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ArticleEnescu: Piano Quartets no.1 in D major op.16 & no.2 in D minor op.30
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Outstanding performances make Enescu’s music sound greater than it isMusicians: Tammuz Piano QuartetComposer: EnescuPerhaps the most significant revolution inspired by the compact disc is the unprecedented breadth of musical repertoire that has become available. As a result, once-neglected figures such as George Enescu have become ...
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ArticleFlight Mode
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Jazz violin playing that experiments with boundaries of the mediumMusicians: Chris Garrick (violin) ?David Gordon (keyboards) Ole Rasmussen (double bass) Tom Hooper (drums)Composer: VariousChris Garrick’s first release as a bandleader for five years finds the British jazz violinist on fine form. As ...
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ArticleHonegger: Complete Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A unique collection of Honegger’s chamber music for violinMusicians: Laurence Kayaleh (violin) Paul Stewart (piano)Composer: HoneggerLaurence Kayaleh and Paul Stewart follow up their fine two-disc Medtner survey for Naxos with the only single disc of Honegger’s four violin sonatas currently available. It ...
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ArticleKarlowicz: Violin Concerto in A major op.8, Serenade op.2
Description: A budget recording of a neglected Polish concerto disappointsMusicians: Ilya Kaler (violin) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni WitComposer: Karlowicz Karlowicz’s ‘early’ Violin Concerto of 1902 (he was killed in an avalanche while skiing only seven years later aged 32) betrays the influence of Tchaikovsky and Bruch, ...
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ArticleLekeu: Molto adagio, String Quartet, Méditation, Minuet
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The complete music for string quartet from a short-lived acolyte of FranckMusicians: Debussy Quartet Composer: LekeuBy the time of his death in 1894 at the early age of 24, Guillaume Lekeu had created sufficient to ...
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ArticleLyapunov: Violin Concerto in D minor op.61, Symphony no.1 in B minor op.12
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A persuasive account of a little-known Russian violin concertoMusicians: Maxim Fedotov (violin) Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry YablonskyComposer: LyapunovSergey Lyapunov (1859–1924) belonged to that group of composers who arrived too late to be part of the Romantic era, yet were seemingly unable to take on ...
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ArticleMozart: Divertimento in E flat major K563, Fugues with Slow Preludes after Bach no.4 in F major & no.5 in E flat major K404a
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Mozart’s arrangements of Bach make an apt frame for one of his divertimentosMusicians: Hermitage TrioComposer: MozartThe warmth and bloom on this recording by the Hermitage Trio is immediately inviting, and the players’ incisive, well-considered readings of Mozart trios are a treat, with arrangements of Bach ...
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ArticleProkofiev: Violin Concerto no.2 in G minor op.63. Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A promising performance of Prokofiev marred by poor recording balanceMusicians: Geneviève Laurenceau (violin) Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra/Tugan SokhievComposer: Prokofiev, RachmaninoffAs a curtain-raiser to their superb account of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev and his Toulouse orchestra give their leader Geneviève Laurenceau a ...
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ArticleThe Road to Damascus
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Folk fiddling explores music from both sides of the AtlanticMusicians: Notorious Composer: VariousThe Notorious central duo of fiddler–singer Eden MacAdam-Somer and guitarist–banjo-player Larry Unger are joined by mandolin, percussion and bass here in a collection of traditional and original American folk ...
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ArticleTim Key With a String Quartet. On a Boat.
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Absurdist comedy meets the string quartet on a disc of music and poetryMusicians: Tim Key, Tom Basden (voice) Vicky Sutherland, Amy May (violin) Nat Jones (viola) Katy Wright (cello)Composer: VariousAdmittedly, this is not primarily a musical disc. Tim Key is a British comedian ...
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ArticleBiber: Rosary Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A worthy contender in a crowded market for Biber’s Biblical sonata cycleMusicians: Daniel Sepec (violin) Hille Perl (viola da gamba) Lee Santana (archlute/theorbo) Michael Behringer (harpsichord/organ)Composer: BiberDaniel Sepec uses three matching Stainer violins in original condition (but of contrasting vintage) to ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Variations on Mozart’s ‘Bei Männern’ WoO46, Violin Sonata in A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ (arr. Czerny), Cello Sonata in D major op.102 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A convincing cello account of Beethoven’s greatest violin sonataMusicians: Ivan Monighetti (cello) Pavel Gililov (piano)Composer: BeethovenPressure to expand the repertoire on CD inevitably leads to the path of arrangements. So despite having five sonatas and Beethoven’s fine transcription of the Horn Sonata, cellists’ eyes ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas in G major op.78, A major op.100 & D minor op.108
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Affecting and lyrical interpretations of BrahmsMusicians: Stefan Jackiw (violin) Max Levinson (piano)Composer: BrahmsSony has only recently issued the three Brahms sonatas played by Jack Liebeck (reviewed September 2010), but the young American violinist Stefan Jackiw hits such a high level ...
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ArticleRubinstein: Piano Trios nos.1–5
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Edlian Piano TrioComposer: RubinsteinThere is a lot more (thankfully) to Anton Rubinstein’s creative talent than the penny-plain phrases of the once ubiquitous Melody in F. Although his skilfully wrought music may lack the strong emotional profile of his one-time student Tchaikovsky, his ...
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ArticleSaint-Saëns: Violin Concertos no.1 in A major op.20, no.2 in C major op.58 & no.3 in B minor op.61
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Fanny Clamagirand (violin) Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/Patrick GalloisComposer: Saint-SaënsStrength of rhetoric and hauntingly memorable melodies make Saint-Saëns’s violin concertos highly effective compositions, especially the large-scale and detectably Mendelssohnian Second. The fiery playing of Fanny Clamagirand, an ex-student of Jean-Jacques Kantorow at the Paris ...
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ArticleSibelius: String Quartet in D minor op.56 ‘Voces intimae’. Schoenberg: String Quartet no.1 in D minor op.7
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A spare, intense reading of Brahms and SchoenbergMusicians: Tetzlaff QuartetComposer: Sibelius, SchoenbergSibelius and Schoenberg might seem an unlikely pairing, but the two composers’ D minor quartets are well matched for their obsession with musical process, Sibelius with Beethovenian motivic development, ...
