All Review articles – Page 129
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ReviewSchumann: String Quartets nos.1–3 op.41
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A swift but expressive approach to Schumann’s three quartetsMusicians: Ying QuartetComposer: SchumannOn first acquaintance, the Ying Quartet’s tempos seem uncommonly fast, particularly so in the finale to the First Quartet, where there is a breathless urgency. Checking them against Schumann’s metronome markings, ...
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ReviewTime Reflexion. Works by Rust, El-Khoury, Leclair, Stamitz, Tanguy and Narekatsi
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Old and new combined by this Armenian violinist and friendsMusicians: Chouchane Siranossian (violin) with Rüdiger Lotter (baroque violin) Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabedian (violin) Levon Chatikyan (duduk)Composer: Rust, El-Khoury, Leclair, Stamitz, Tanguy and NarekatsiIf pretentious titles usually put you off heterogeneous concept albums, ...
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ReviewStenhammar: String Quartets vol.2: no.1 in C major op.2; no.2 in C minor op.14
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Scandinavian players do their namesake proud as they continue their explorationMusicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: StenhammarThe Stenhammar Quartet has an eponymous obligation to do justice to Wilhelm Stenhammar’s quartets, and indeed it does in this disc that follows up the ensemble’s vol.1 ...
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ReviewMozart: Complete Violin Concertos; Sinfonia concertante K364
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Clean and clear readings of Mozart’s violin concertos and ConcertanteMusicians: Rachel Barton Pine (violin) Matthew Lipman (viola) Academy of St Martinuin the Fields/Neville MarrinerComposer: MozartThis double-disc set is a mixture of old and new. On the one hand, it represents an established ...
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ReviewBeamish: Seavaigers. Stout/McKay: Moder Dy
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: April 2015Description: Contrasting works that take a folk–classical approachMusicians: Chris Stout (violin), Catriona McKay (Scottish harp) Scottish EnsembleComposer: Beamish, Stout/McKayChris Stout and Catriona McKay are firm fixtures on Scotland’s folk scene and, more specifically, in Shetland, where their string band Fiddlers’ Bid ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Sonatas in C major K296 & B flat major K454. Stravinsky: Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Fire and ice on display in music by two contrasting composersMusicians: Esther Hoppe (violin) Alasdair Beatson (piano)Composer: Mozart, StravinskyAlasdair Beatson is the more prominent protagonist in the two Mozart sonatas but Esther Hoppe admirably complements his perceptive playing in their various exchanges, ...
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ReviewMeyer: Sounds of Being
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Stylish, philosophical new works for virtual viola ensembleMusicians: Jessica Meyer (viola, loop pedal, vocals)Composer: MeyerMaking an album of new music for solo viola is a brave move. But New York violist and composer Jessica Meyer builds a sound world with each piece ...
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ReviewShostakovich: String Quartets nos.14 op.142 & 15 op.144; Two Pieces op.36
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: The Czech ensemble offers rapt readings of Shostakovich’s last quartetsMusicians: Pražák QuartetComposer: ShostakovichThe two Shostakovich quartets on this recording are described in the booklet as his last diptych, although the proofreader missed the wild inaccuracy of his dates, given here as 1841–1904, ...
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ReviewLeclair: Sonatas for two unaccompanied violins op.3
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Proficient performances of Leclair’s Italian–French fusionsMusicians: Anima ConcordiaComposer: LeclairHusband-and-wife Baroque violin duo Paul Herrera and Kaori Toda form a technically assured and cohesive partnership in these accounts of Leclair’s Six Sonatas op.3. They thoroughly acknowledge Leclair’s marriage of Italian and French styles ...
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ReviewLittle Girl Blue: From Nina Simone
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A cellist’s tribute to the music of a great jazz singer–songwriterMusicians: Sonia Wieder-Atherton (cello) Bruno Fontaine (piano) Laurent Kraif (percussion)Composer: Nina SimoneCellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton continues her impressively varied output on the Naïve label with a new project to follow recordings of music ...
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ReviewGadenstätter: bersten/platzen. Koglmann: Days of Yore. Osborne: Roma Diaries
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Contemporary works performed by their committed dedicateeMusicians: Florian Kitt (cello) Aima Maria Labra-Makk (piano)Composer: Gadenstätter, Koglmann, OsborneBursting/splitting is the usefully if uncomfortably graphic title of Clemens Gadenstätter’s 25-minute work of 2012, apparently divided into four sections. Coherence is hard to establish from ...
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ReviewFauré: Piano Quartet no.1 in C minor op.15. Bonis: Piano Quartet no.1 op.69
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Fauré’s First Piano Quartet and a delightful discovery from a contemporary of DebussyMusicians: Giardini Piano QuartetComposer: Fauré, BonisThere are many good things on this recording. The playing is fluid and often extremely beautiful, the tone sweet and appealing. First impressions, sadly, are ...
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ReviewThe Catalan Virtuoso. Cervera-Bret: Elegía, Romanza, Nocturno, Reverie, Berceuse, Recuerdo de Londres, Cielo gris, Introducción y tarantel-la, Fascinación, El carnival de Venecia
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Virtuoso bass playing in rarely heard Catalan miniaturesMusicians: Leon Bosch (double bass) Sung-Suk Kang, Min-Jung Kym (piano)Composer: Cervera-BretThe double bassist–composer Josep Cervera-Bret (1883–1969) is the least known of the trio of virtuosos (the others were Pedro Valls and Anton Torello) who comprised ...
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ReviewC.P.E. Bach: Cello Concertos in A minor, B flat major & A major Wq170–2
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Contemporary cadenzas shed new light on Carl Philipp EmanuelMusicians: Konstantin Manaev (cello) Berlin CamerataComposer: C.P.E. Bach‘Polystylistic’ is not a word one would expect to apply to a disc of C.P.E. Bach concertos, however revolutionary his writing may have been. The addition of ...
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ReviewRomance oubliée. Sitt: Albumblätter op.39. Glazunov: Elegy op.44. Vierne: Two Pieces. Vieuxtemps: Élégie op.30. Wieniawski: Rêverie. Liszt: Romance oubliée. Kreisler: Romance; Aucassin et Nicolette. K
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Zimmermann takes a break from Hindemith with a selection of viola lollipopsMusicians: Tabea Zimmermann (viola) Thomas Hoppe (piano)Composer: SItt, Glazunov, Vierne, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Liszt, Kreisler, KodályIn contrast to her Hindemithian labours of the last couple of years, for this recording ...
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ReviewMozart: String Quartet no.21 in D major K575. Ives: String Quartet no.2. Verdi: String Quartet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: A brilliant young quartet in contrasting works from three centuriesMusicians: Schumann QuartetComposer: Mozart, Ives, VerdiThis is the Schumann Quartet’s eagerly awaited follow-up to its outstanding 2013 debut disc of Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms. Lithe, tonally transparent, sparklingly articulated, finely vibratoed, ...
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ReviewJohanna Martzy Vol.3. Works by Vivaldi, Szymanowski, Martinu¯, Ravel, Bartók, Brahms, Falla, Mozart, Bach & Suk
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Welcome exposure for the artistry of a neglected Hungarian virtuosoMusicians: Johanna Martzy (violin) Adolph Hallis, István Hajdu (piano) Stuttgart Radio Orchestra/Hans Müller-Kray, Netherlands Radio Orchestra/Willem van Otterloo, New York Philharmonic/André Cluytens, Cleveland Orchestra/George SzellComposer: Vivaldi, Szymanowski, Martinu¯, Ravel, Bartók, Brahms, Falla, Mozart, ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3; Scherzo from ‘F–A–E’ Sonata
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Dumay returns to Brahms with yet more revealing resultsMusicians: Augustin Dumay (violin) Louis Lortie (piano)Composer: BrahmsWith two fine recordings of these timeless scores already safely under his belt (on EMI/Warner with Michel Béroff and on Deutsche Grammophon, minus the ‘F–A–E’ ...
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ReviewVaughan Williams: Violin Concerto, The Lark Ascending. Elgar: Introduction and Allegro, Serenade for Strings
The Strad Issue: February 2015Description: A disappointing revival of a little-known concertoMusicians: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) Orchestra of the Swan/David CurtisComposer: Vaughan Williams, ElgarWritten for Jelly d’Arányi (who, the composer thought, took scant advantage of her six-month exclusive performing period), Vaughan Williams’s Violin Concerto has few champions even ...
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ReviewNozeman: Sonatas for violin and basso continuo op.2
The Strad Issue: March 2015Description: Demonstrative and colourful approach to Nozeman’s second opusMusicians: Antoinette Lohman (violin) Furor MusicusComposer: NozemanThese stylish accounts of the op.2 Sonatas by Jacobus Nozeman (1693–1745) use a rich diversity of continuo instruments to striking effect. Although the technical stakes are higher than in ...
