Recording reviews – Page 223
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ArticleChausson: Piano Trio in G minor op.3. Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ernest Chausson TrioComposer: Chausson, Ravel On the Wagner wing of late 19th-century French composers, Chausson was on the verge of a stylistic breakthrough, fanning his super-heated music with gentle Fauréan and Ravellian breezes, when he was tragically killed in a freak cycling ...
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ArticleChopin: Cello Sonata, Introduction and Polonaise brillante. Grieg: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Michal Kanka (cello) Jaromír Klepác (piano)Composer: Chopin, GriegFrom Beethoven onwards the piano has held a pivotal role in shaping the performance in the cello sonata, and neither the Grieg nor the Chopin sonatas are exceptions. In consequence the piano very much drives ...
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ArticleDall'Abaco: 11 Caprices for cello
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Kristin von der Goltz (cello)Composer: Dall'AbacoIf making a CD disseminates an all-but-unknown composer to a wider public, and at the same time is so persuasive that you want to get a copy of the music for yourself, it’s a success ...
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ArticleReflection. Bartók: Sonata for solo violin. Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor. Ravel: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Bartók, Debussy, RavelIt’s encouraging to see performers embracing the opportunities provided by new technologies. Only a couple of months ago I welcomed Ruth Palmer’s engrossing documentary on Shostakovich which accompanied her Quartz coupling of the First ...
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ArticleSchop: Hamburger Ratsmusicus
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Simone Eckert (treble viol/director), Hamburger RatsmusikComposer: SchopFrom the 16th century until almost 1800, the music-loving Hanseatic city of Hamburg kept a virtuoso string ensemble of about eight members to perform at religious services and official ceremonies, the Ratsmusik (council musicians). Johann Schop led ...
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ArticleSchumann: Adagio and Allegro in A flat major op.70, Fantasiestücke op.73, Fünf Stücke im Volkston op.102, Märchenbilder op.113 (arr. Piatti). Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Antonio Meneses (cello) Gérard Wyss (piano)Composer: Schumann, Schubert Antonio Meneses brings a tender beauty almost burdened with sadness to the disc’s opening Schumann Adagio, but this is soon swept aside with the passionate outburst that launches the ensuing Allegro. ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Sonata*, Violin Sonata† , Romance and Nocturne from ‘The Gadfly’ (arr. Yablonsky)‡
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dmitry Yablonsky (cello/conductor) Maxim Fedotov (violin) Ekaterina Saranceva (piano)* Galina Petrova (piano)† Russian Philharmonic Orchestra‡Composer: ShostakovichDmitry Yablonsky offers a wonderfully warm and sensitive performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, first heard in 1934, around the time of the composer’s near-fatal brush with ...
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ArticleShostakovich: String Quartets nos.3, 14 & 15, Piano Quintet in G minor op.57
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Juilliard String Quartet, Yefim Bronfman (piano) Composer: ShostakovichThe Juilliard Quartet was on a very different continent when the Beethoven Quartet was making its legendary recordings of the Shostakovich quartets, and is now able to stand back from the ...
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ArticleDvorák: Piano Trio op.90 ‘Dumky’. Beethoven: Piano Trio op.97 ‘Archduke’
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Guarneri Trio PragueComposer: Dvorák, Beethoven In autumn 2006 the Guarneri Trio celebrated its 20th anniversary: these vital performances handsomely illustrate the trio’s technical excellence, seasoned maturity and colourful musical personalities.The purity and refinement of the Guarneri’s playing can ...
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ArticleDvorák: String Quartet no.13 in G major op.106. Janácek: String Quartet no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Artemis QuartetComposer: Dvorák, JanácekThis a stirring performance of the G major Quartet, composed in 1895 to celebrate Dvo?ák’s return to Prague from the United States. What impresses most about the Artemis Quartet’s energised approach is its consistency: throughout, its reading is gritty ...
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ArticleGaluppi: Concerti a quattro
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ensemble Il FalconeComposer: GaluppiCharles Burney praised Baldassare Galuppi’s skills as a contrapuntist and as ‘a friend to poetry’. These seven ‘Concerti a quattro’ largely endorse Burney’s approbation, incorporating much contrapuntal expertise and expressive lyricism.Ensemble Il Falcone’s interpretations are thoughtfully prepared, even if ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op.76
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Budapest QuartetComposer: Haydn To have a great chamber ensemble playing six great works is not to be sneezed at. So I have to explain why I would rather be listening to a reissue of a different set of Haydn’s ...
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ArticleKhachaturian: Violin Concerto. Shostakovich: Violin Concerto no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Catherine Manoukian (violin) Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Eduard Topehjan (conductor) Composer: Khachaturian, ShostakovichThis uplifting performance of Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, one of the undoubted masterpieces of the 20th-century repertoire, comes from musicians associated with the composer’s homeland.The Armenian orchestra’s ...
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ArticleKoechlin: Vingt chansons bretonnes op.115, Cello Sonata op.66. Debussy: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Peter Bruns (cello) Roglit Ishay (piano)Composer: Koechlin, Debussy The Debussy Sonata was the highlight of this disc for me. The German-Israeli partnership of Bruns and Ishay manage to get everything just right, faithfully observing its myriad directions on ...
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ArticleMozart: Piano Trios in E major K542, in C major K548 & in G major K564
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: The Queen’s Chamber TrioComposer: Mozart The Queen’s Chamber Trio’s ‘decidedly revolutionary’ approach to these works, as claimed in the booklet, involves using a harpsichord rather than a fortepiano. While this has some historical credibility, the instrumentarium employed here is ...
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ArticleMozart: String Quartet in G major K387. Schubert: Quartettsatz in C minor D703. Debussy: String Quartet op.10. Wolf: Italian Serenade
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Formosa QuartetComposer: Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, Wolf It is unsurprising that the members of the Formosa Quartet, winners of the London International String Quartet Competition last year, were also awarded that competition’s Amadeus Prize for the best Mozart performance. ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Concertos nos.1–5, Rondos in B flat major K269 & C major K373, Adagio in E major K261
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Johannes Leertouwer (violin/director) La Borea AmsterdamComposer: Mozart Johannes Leertouwer makes much of the fact that his lightly built 1619 Amati comes from the period that Mozart would have had in mind when exploring the contrasts possible by use of the violin’s different ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in E minor K304, in A major K305, in E flat major K380 & in B flat major K454
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dmitry Sitkovetsky (violin) Antonio Pappano (piano)Composer: MozartAs this disc is labelled ‘Vol.1’, I hope the recording team will reconsider its engineering policy before the next volume – especially since there is nothing wrong with the venue, Potton Hall in Suffolk, a proven ...
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ArticleVanhal: Violin Concertos in G major (WIIb:G3), in G major (WIIb:G1) and in B flat major (WIIb:Bb1)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Takako Nishizaki (violin) Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Müller-Brühl (conductor)Composer: Vanhal Takako Nishizaki makes a persuasive case for these three of Vanhal’s 15 or so violin concertos, many of which achieved considerable popularity in the 1760s and 1770s. Mozart, ...
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ArticleBax: Viola Sonata, Legend, Trio in One Movement, Concert Piece
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Laurence Jackson (violin) MartinuOutram (viola) Julian Rolton (piano)Composer: Bax With the Bax violin sonatas already safely under his belt for Naxos (with pianist Ashley Wass), Laurence Jackson returns to the fold alongside MartinuOutram (violist with the Maggini Quartet) ...
