Recording reviews – Page 227
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ArticleOne and the Same
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Jeff Gauthier, GoatetteComposer: Jeff GauthierThis absorbing programme of hyper-cool jazz features Jeff Gauthier on acoustic violin and on four-string and five-string electric violin. His ‘goatette’ comprises five players, the others being Nels Cline (electric guitar), David Witham (piano and keyboard), Joel Hamilton ...
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ArticleOnslow: Nonet in A minor op.77, String Quintet no.19 in C minor op.44
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Mandelring-Quartet, Ma’alot-Wind Quintet, Wolfgang-GüttlerComposer: OnslowFrench composer George Onslow’s chamber works were popular in Germany and Austria in the early 19th century but were considered too erudite and serious for general public consumption in France. His String Quintet in C minor immediately demonstrates ...
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ArticleRavel: Tzigane, Violin Sonata, Piano Trio, Sonata for violin and cello, Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Susanna Yoko Henkel (violin) Monika Leskovar (cello) Milana Chernyavska (piano)Composer: RavelAs Susanna Yoko Henkel shows from the start in the cruel demands of Tzigane, she has the technical measure of Ravel. This is just as well given the closeness of the microphone. ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Trios no.1 in B minor op.8, no.2 in C major op.87 & no.3 in C minor op.101, Piano Quartet no.1 in G minor op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Wanderer Trio, Christophe Gaugué (viola)Composer: BrahmsWhile working on the revised version of his First Piano Trio, Brahms commented to Clara Schumann: ‘I have written my B major Trio once more... But will it be better?’ The answer is ‘yes and no’ – ...
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ArticleBridge: Phantasy Piano Quartet in F sharp minor. Howells: Piano Quartet in A minor op.21. Alwyn: Rhapsody for Piano Quartet. Scott: Piano Quartet op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Primrose Piano QuartetComposer: Bridge, Howells, Alwyn, ScottThis is a most attractive programme, gathering together four little-known 20th-century British piano quartets. The performances place them in direct line from Elgar and bypass the German and French influences that fashioned the young Frank Bridge ...
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ArticleRomantic Concertos. Röntgen: Violin Concerto in A minor. Chausson: Poème op.25. Hubay: Violin Concerto no.3 in G minor op.99*
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Ragin Wenk-Wolff (violin), Dvorák Symphony Orchestra/Stanislav Bogunia, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Dennis BurkhComposer: Röntgen, Chausson, HubayThere is a passionate zeal and imperativeness about these recordings that took me back to my early days as a collector, when I used to pick all kinds ...
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ArticleRózsa: Cello Concerto op.32, Sinfonia concertante op.29
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Philippe Graffin (violin) Raphael Wallfisch (cello) BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry WordsworthComposer: RózsaFor all his success as a film composer (he won three Academy Awards), Miklós Rózsa throughout his long life set great store by his ‘serious’ music. Although trained at the prestigious Leipzig ...
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ArticleSchumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44, Piano Quartet in E flat major op.47
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Schubert EnsembleComposer: SchumannIt is the immaculate recorded balance between piano and strings that sets this disc apart from many others, for despite being a prime requirement, this has been the drawback of many eminently recommendable performances.The opening of the Piano Quintet does ...
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ArticleSibelius: Six Humoresques opp.87 & 89, Two Serenades op.69, Suite op.117, Swanwhite op.54
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Pekka Kuusisto (violin/director) Tapiola SinfoniettaComposer: SibeliusSibelius’s reputation reached its apex in the 1930s, when the distinguished English musicologist Julius Harrison went as far as to claim that ‘Sibelius is the one recognised by cultured musicians as the most fitting successor ...
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ArticleStrauss: String Sextet from Capriccio. Berg: Piano Sonata in B minor op.1 (transcr. Müller). Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Artemis Quartet, Thomas Kakuska (viola) Valentin Erben (cello)Composer: Strauss, Berg, SchönbergIn this unusual programme of late-Romantic string sextets recorded in 2002, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet collaborates with cellist Valentin Erben and violist Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet, one of its ...
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ArticleBach: Viola da gamba Sonatas in G major BWV1027, in D major BWV1028 & in G minor BWV1029, Flute Sonata in B minor BWV1030b (transcr. in G minor for gamba)
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Jonathan Manson (viola da gamba) Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord)Composer: BachOne man’s Bach is another man’s poison, or, to put it another way, his music is capable of sustaining a rich variety of delivery. This is the case even within the parameters of period ...
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ArticleWilliam Primrose – Viola Transcriptions. Zimbalist: Sarasateana. Plus arrangements of works by Borodin, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Aguirre/Heifetz, Valle/Heifetz, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Bizet, Tchai
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Roberto Díaz, Robert KoenigComposer: Zimbalist, Borodin, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Aguirre/Heifetz, Valle/Heifetz, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Bizet, Tchaikovsky & Brahms-(transc. Prmirose)William Primrose, in Yehudi Menuhin’s words ‘the first star of the viola’, was fond of peppering his concert programmes with short virtuoso pieces, of which ...
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ArticleWriting against War – Bachmann to music. Froom: Piano Trio no.2 ‘Grenzen’. Deutsch: Curriculum vitae. Sterk: Hôtel de la paix*. Lauermann: […übungen in horizontgewinn und traumverlust…]. Mumford: in t
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, Christian Hilz (baritone)*Composer: Froom, Deutsch, Sterk, Lauermann, MumfordHere’s a lovely idea: piano trios by five composers otherwise unrepresented in the UK CD catalogue and united only by a common inspiration, the poetry of Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–73). The direct imagery ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in B minor op.33 no. 1, in D major op.64 no.5 ‘Lark’ & in G major op.76 no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Ebène QuartetComposer: HaydnThe members of the Ebène Quartet win their spurs in this superlative debut classical disc. Their performances, recorded live, demonstrate a natural affinity with three quartets from different periods of Haydn’s career, and their bold and decisive characterisation ...
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ArticleHenze: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 3*, Fünf Nachtstücke†
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin) Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee (conductor)* Aaron Shorr (piano)† Composer: HenzeHenze’s musical gifts and socio-political ideals have always directed him towards musical individuation: even the more sprawling of his orchestral works abound in soloistic virtuosity, and his ...
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ArticleJanácek: String Quartets no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ & no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’, Pohádka, Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Brodsky Quartet, MartinuCousin (piano)Composer: JanácekBritish players have been involved with Janá?cek’s chamber music since the famous Wigmore Hall concert of 6 May 1926, in the composer’s presence. It is wonderful that so many now play his music – but whether they should ...
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ArticleJongen: String Trio op.135. Ysaÿe: Le Chimay. De Meester: String Trio
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Goeyvaerts TrioComposer: Jongen, Ysaÿe, De MeesterThis disc features three Belgian composers who were working in the first half of the 20th century, but whose style and output occupied no common ground. Joseph Jongen, today remembered almost entirely for his organ works, was ...
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ArticleLeclair: Sonatas, Book 4
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Patrick Bismuth (violin) Valérie Balssa, La TempestaComposer: LeclairJean-Marie Leclair’s fourth book of solo sonatas contains twelve four-movement works in the sonata da chiesa form (ten for violin, two for flute), with a delightful smattering of French dance forms set between Sarabande, Largo ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Concertos no.1 in B flat major K207, no.2 in D major K211 & no.3 in G major K216
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Fabio Biondi (violin/director) Europa GalanteComposer: MozartThe day before I began appraising this disastrous disc, I was listening with pleasure to one of the CDs of Boccherini quintets by Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante. It is not a long journey from Boccherini to ...
