All Review articles – Page 127
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ReviewLa Vida Breve. Works by Assad, Cassadó, Falla, Gardel, Gismonti, Granados, Lara, Piazzolla and Ravel
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Spanish sunshine and passion for cello and guitarMusicians: Nadège Rochat (cello) Rafael Aguirre (guitar)Composer: Assad, Cassadó, Falla, Gardel, Gismonti, Granados, Lara, Piazzolla and RavelWhat’s not to like in a release where the cello delivers harmonious Spanish-inflected melodies, by turns fiery and quixotic, ...
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ReviewThe 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic: Recordings 1978–2010
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The collected complete recordings of Berlin’s cello supergroupMusicians: 12 Cellists of the Berlin PhilharmonicComposer: VariousAs if the nostalgia of its 40th anniversary DVD were not enough, Warner now releases all eight recordings made by that incomparable musical institution, the 12 Cellists of ...
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ReviewZemlinsky: Complete String Quartets
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The Brodskys brilliantly traverse Zemlinsky’s quartets from A to ZMusicians: Brodsky QuartetComposer: ZemlinskyHearing all Zemlinsky’s quartets in one go provides an aural mini-biography of the composer and his influences: the unnumbered 1893 E minor Quartet and no.1 (1896) see him already enlarging ...
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ReviewWalton: Viola Concerto. Schnittke: Passacaglia for Orchestra
Description: Touch-and-go in Bashmet’s Moscow premiere of Walton’s Viola ConcertoMusicians: Yuri Bashmet (viola) Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Philharmonic Society/Dmitri KitayenkoComposer: Walton, SchnittkeWilliam Walton’s Viola Concerto is one of those pieces that keeps getting slower over the years, but even so I was amazed at seeing ...
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ReviewVivaldi: I Concerti dell’addio: Violin Concertos in C major RV189; in †¨E minor RV273; in F major RV286; in B flat major RV367; in B flat major RV371; in B minor RV390
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Late concertos from Vivaldi’s Viennese yearsMusicians: Fabio Biondi (violin/director) Europa GalanteComposer: VivaldiVivaldi composed his ‘Farewell’ Concertos in his twilight years while searching desperately for creative opportunities in Vienna. Drawn from a collection currently preserved in Brno, the works on this disc confirm ...
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ReviewLiszt: Duo Sonata on Polish Themes; Epithalamium; The Three Gypsies; Two Elegies; Valse-Impromptu (arr. Hubay); Grand duo concertant on Lafont’s ‘Le marin’
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Polish players explore Liszt’s little-known chamber musicMusicians: Voytek Proniewicz (violin) Wojciech Waleczek (piano)Composer: LisztPolish duo Proniewicz and Waleczek have produced a nicely shaped selection of Liszt’s still relatively unexplored chamber music. The two chunkiest items frame the programme. The first is a ...
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ReviewHétu: Complete Chamber Music for Strings
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Chamber works by a French-trained Canadian composerMusicians: New Orford Quartet, Steven Dann (viola) Colin Carr (cello) Timothy Hutchins (flute)Composer: HétuThis vividly recorded CD gathers the complete chamber music for strings – spanning almost half a century – of Canadian composer Jacques Hétu ...
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ReviewFauré: Piano Trio in D minor op.120. Pierné: Piano Trio in C minor op.45
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The Wanderer pairs French piano trios from the 1920sMusicians: Wanderer TrioComposer: Fauré, PiernéThere is some lush writing in Gabriel Pierné’s 1921 Piano Trio in C minor, which the Wanderer Trio treats with an appropriate sweetness of tone. The first movement covers a ...
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ReviewBartók: Divertimento. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings op.48
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: String-ensemble standards captured live in characteristic Barbican soundMusicians: London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble/Roman Simović (violin)Composer: Bartók, TchaikovskyLast month’s Masterclass writer Roman Simović, directing the London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble from the leader’s chair, brings much pleasure in a polished and poised account ...
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ReviewVivaldi: L’estro armonico op.3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Podger’s Brecon players are compelling in better-known VivaldiMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin/director) Brecon BaroqueComposer: VivaldiRachel Podger continues her exploration of Vivaldi’s violin concertos with his set of twelve, L’estro armonico op.3 (1711), accompanied this time by her ensemble Brecon Baroque and ...
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ReviewLanggaard: String Quartets nos.1 & 5; Italian Scherzo
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The Nightingale players close their award-winning Langgaard accountMusicians: Nightingale QuartetComposer: LanggaardThis final volume in the Nightingale Quartet’s pioneering complete cycle gathers together the earliest and latest of Langgaard’s ten works for quartet, though their tortured creation muddies the chronology. No.1 ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets in C minor op.18 no.4; in E major op.74 ‘Harp’; in B flat major op.130; Grosse Fuge op.133
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSDescription: The Elias embarks on a Beethoven quartet cycleMusicians: Elias QuartetComposer: BeethovenIt is a decade since I first encountered the remarkably gifted young musicians of the Elias Quartet, when they became founder members of the Sheffield-based chamber group Ensemble 360. They have musically travelled a long ...
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ReviewJ.L. Adams: The Wind in High Places; Canticles of the Sky; Dream of the Canyon Wren
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Eco-conscious introspection from Alaska-based Pulitzer Prize winnerMusicians: Jack Quartet, Northwestern University Cello Ensemble/Hans Jørgen JensenComposer: J.L. AdamsJohn Luther Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014 with his orchestral work Become Ocean. The Alaska-based composer, whose music is concerned with – ...
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ReviewFive Decades of Treasured Performances. Works by Barber, Bartók, Beethoven, A. Benjamin, Bloch, Brahms, Brustad, Chausson, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Grieg, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Nín, Paradis,
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: A celebration of an under-sung violinist now in her eightiesMusicians: Camilla Wicks (violin) various artistsComposer: Barber, Bartók, Beethoven, A. Benjamin, Bloch, Brahms, Brustad, Chausson, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Grieg, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Nín, Paradis, Ravel, Sarasate, Scărlătescu, Schubert, Shostakovich, R. Strauss, Tailleferre, Tchaikovsky, ...
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ReviewTre Voci. Takemitsu: And then I knew ’twas wind. Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola and harp. Gubaidulina: Garten von Freuden und Traurigkeiten
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Three become one in works for Debussy’s classic combinationMusicians: Kim Kashkashian (viola) Marina Piccinini (flute) Sivan Magen (harp)Composer: Takemitsu, Debussy, GubaidulinaMany good things have come out of the Marlboro Music Festival over the years and the meeting of musical minds on this ...
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ReviewPrimeros Pasos
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: London’s premiere tango ensemble takes its first steps on discMusicians: London Tango Orchestra/Caroline Pearsall (violin)Composer: VariousWith regular imported dance shows at Sadler’s Wells and the eight-piece London Tango Orchestra (LTO) performing gigs across the city, London clearly has a market for classic ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Sonatas: in E minor K304; in A major K305; in B flat major K454; in A major K526
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Violin sonatas from early and late in Mozart’s careerMusicians: ErnŠ‘ Kállai (violin) Zoltán Fejérvári (piano)Composer: MozartThough the booklet makes no reference to the use of period instruments, the tonal quality and style of performance would place this disc within that category. The ...
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ReviewPaganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: A Romanian violinist proves his virtuoso mettle in solo PaganiniMusicians: Razvan Stoica (violin)Composer: PaganiniPaganini’s music is a proving ground for virtuosity and this, surely, is what ensures its enduring appeal. Razvan Stoica’s approach to the Caprices here suggests that virtuosity is his ...
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ReviewThe Fire That Breaks from Thee. Holst: Walt Whitman Overture. Milford: Violin Concerto in G minor, op.47. Stanford: Violin Concerto no.2 in G minor, op.162
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Two rediscovered English concertos given ideal interpretative advocacyMusicians: Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) BBC Concert Orchestra/Owain Arwel HughesComposer: Holst, Milford, StanfordHolst’s rarely heard early Walt Whitman Overture, with hints of ceremonial Wagner, is a fitting up-beat to his teacher Stanford’s Second Violin Concerto, which ...
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ReviewFinnissy: Mississippi Hornpipes; Seterjentens’ fridag; Amphithétre des sciences mortes; Jive; Molly House; Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Demonstrating the playful side of Michael Finnissy’s complexityMusicians: Darragh Morgan (violin) Mary Dullea (piano) Michael Finnissy (additional keyboards)Composer: FinnissyIn the first of this album’s radically inventive transformations of older material, Michael Finnissy shoots dissonance and violence into the veins of folk tunes ...
