All Review articles – Page 134
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trios op.70 no.1 in D major ‘Ghost’ & no.2 in E flat major, Variations op.121a
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Lively accounts of Beethoven’s multifaceted music for piano trioMusicians: Vienna Piano TrioComposer: BeethovenThe impact and vivacity that the Vienna Piano Trio brings to the opening bars of the D major Trio set the scene for a performance characterised by the urgency of ...
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ReviewPrecious Refuge. Bach: Solo Violin Sonatas in A minor BWV1003 & C major BWV1005, Violin Concertos in A minor BWV1041 & G minor BWV1056
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Freewheeling accounts that would benefit from greater self-controlMusicians: Iskandar Widjaja (violin/director) Berlin CamerataComposer: BachHailed as ‘a true force of nature’ for his debut disc (reviewed in The Strad, December 2011), Iskandar Widjaja extends his beguiling sense of fantasy to two of Bach’s ...
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ReviewAchron: Music for Violin and Piano
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Mellifluous advocacy for the music of a neglected Russian—US composerMusicians: Michael Ludwig (violin) Alison d’Amato (piano)Composer: AchronAchron: Hebrew Melody op.33, Hebrew Dance op.35 no.1, Hebrew Lullaby op.35 no.2, Prelude op.13, Les sylphides op.18, Zwei Stimmungen op.32, Zwei Stimmungen op.36, Dance Improvisation on ...
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ReviewRavel: String Quartet in F major. Tchaikovsky: String Quartet no.1 in D major. Rachmaninoff: Romance
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Fresh, invigorating takes on stalwarts of the quartet repertoireMusicians: Puertas QuartetComposer: Ravel, Tchaikovsky, RachmaninoffThe Puertas Quartet – formed by two married couples in London in 2009 – plays Ravel with a sense of enchantment. The musicians are good at caressing ...
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ReviewJanácek: Pohádka, Presto. Kodály: Solo Cello Sonata op.8. Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor op.36
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A stunning disc dominated by a showstopping performance of KodályMusicians: Danjulo Ishizaka (cello) Shai Wosner (piano)Composer: Janácek, Kodály, GriegDanjulo Ishizaka and Shai Wosner are mesmerisingly brilliant in this superbly recorded and imaginatively programmed recital. In Janácek’s Pohádka, the fantasy element ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.771. Paganini: Violin Concerto no.2 in B minor op.72. Bach: Gavotte en rondeau, from Partita no.3 in E major BWV10063
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Rare recordings from a forgotten violin voice of the earlier 20th centuryMusicians: Henry Merckel (violin) Association des Concerts Symphoniques de Toulouse / Jean Fournet; Orchestre Radio Symphonique de Paris / Manuel RosenthalComposer: Brahms, Paganini, BachBorn in 1897, Henry Merckel belongs ...
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ReviewMängleik Jo
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A playful selection of music celebrating two styles of fiddle traditionMusicians: Einar Jansen, Johanna-Adele Jüssi (violin/octave fiddle)Composer: Folk, TraditionalThe opening, declarative fiddle phrase of ‘Mängleik’ (which translates as ‘game’), sets the tone for this album: simple, vigorous and playful. The fiddle is ...
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ReviewTickle the Minikin. Works for lyra viol by Mace, S. Ives, Coleman, Taylor, Jenkins, Young, Steffkins, Esto & Anon
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An exemplary showcase for the music of a forgotten member of the English viol consortMusicians: Robert Smith (viola da gamba)Composer: Mace, S. Ives, Coleman, Taylor, Jenkins, Young, Steffkins, EstoThis 35-track disc features accounts of 17th-century English solo lyra viol music, sourced from two ...
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ReviewTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major op.35. Arensky: String Quartet no.2 in A minor op.35
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A classic concerto and rare quartet make fascinating companion piecesMusicians: Philippe Quint (violin) Lily Francis (viola) Claudio Bohórquez, Nicolas Altstaedt (cello) Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra/MartinuPanteleevComposer: Tchaikovsky, ArenskyTchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto thrives on an espressivo intensity full of fast vibrato and generous portamento – distinctive qualities that Philippe Quint ...
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ReviewStradivarius in Rio. Works by Nucci, Vogeler, Costa, Monte, Veloso, Azevedo, Jobim, Baptista, De Abreu & Pixinguinha
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A topical, crossover release from an ever-adventurous violinist and cellistMusicians: Viktoria Mullova (violin) Matthew Barley (cello) Paul Clarvis, Luis Guello (percussion) Carioca Freitas (guitar)Composer: Nucci, Vogeler, Costa, Monte, Veloso, Azevedo, Jobim, Baptista, De Abreu, PixinguinhaCould it be that Viktoria Mullova’s idea of ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’. Janácek: String Quartet no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Anguish and intensity characterise a potent couplingMusicians: Debussy QuartetComposer: Schubert, JanácekWomen and death seem to be the rather morbid connection between the two works on this disc. The Debussy Quartet takes an attacking approach to Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’, driving through ...
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ReviewLocatelli: 24 Caprices (L’arte del violino op.3)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A remarkably successful collection of the caprices from Locatelli’s op.3 concertosMusicians: Gabriel Tchalik (violin)Composer: LocatelliGabriel Tchalik here tackles Locatelli’s caprices, totally divorced from the concertos they adorn. He reproduces their unprecedented sonorities and meets their formidable technical challenges not only with breathtaking vigour ...
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ReviewLalo: Piano Trio, Piano Quintet, Violin Sonata, Guitare, Chanson villageoise, Sérénade, Arlequin
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A valuable survey of Lalo’s work for piano and stringsMusicians: Dorian Lamotte, Agnès Reverdy (violin) Marc Desmons (viola) Florent Audibert (cello) François Dumont (piano)Composer: LaloThis disc interlaces serious works such as the experimental two-movement Piano Quintet of 1862–3 (reconstructed by Dorian Lamotte and here ...
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ReviewGrundman: A mortuis resurgere (The Resurrection of Christ)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Neither work nor performance make a convincing case for themselvesMusicians: Brodsky Quartet, Susana Cordón (soprano)Composer: GrundmanA little of Jorge Grundman’s The Resurrection of Christ goes a long way, at least on this disc. Based on St John’s Gospel, it is a chamber oratorio for soprano ...
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ReviewLove — Innocence, Passion, Obsession. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major. Piazzolla: Milonga in D major. Pepa: Fantaisie bohémienne. Rota: Improvviso in D minor. Frolov: Concert Fantasy on Themes from G
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An unusual but enjoyable recital from a Toronto-based violinistMusicians: Lynn Kuo (violin) Marianna Humetska (piano)Composer: Franck, Pepa, Frolov, Piazzolla, RotaThis may be an oddly mixed collection, with Franck’s Romantic juggernaut, the Violin Sonata, joining slighter works of the past 50 years by ...
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ReviewWalton: Symphony no.1, Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An impressive interpretation of the composer’s heartfelt concertoMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward GardnerComposer: WaltonTasmin Little introduces an extra dimension of meditation to the dreamy opening melody of Walton’s Violin Concerto, a mood that sets the scene for a heartfelt and often expansive account. There ...
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ReviewBach: Solo Violin Sonatas no.2 in A minor BWV1003 & no.3 in C major BWV1005. Tartini: ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata (arr. Kreisler). Mozart: Violin Sonata in A major K526
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Fervent performances unearthed after over a half a centuryMusicians: Christian Ferras (violin) Pierre Barbizet (piano)Composer: Bach, Tartini, MozartA disc of Christian Ferras (1933–82) on the Meloclassic label devoted to unissued concert and broadcast performances by historical artists (in this case well recorded ...
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ReviewBartók: Chamber works for violin vol.3: Contrasts, Sonatina (arr. Gertler), 44 Duos
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: James Ehnes continues to dazzle in his Bartók seriesMusicians: James Ehnes, Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin) Michael Collins (clarinet) Andrew Armstrong (piano)Composer: BartókThis third volume of James Ehnes’s survey of Bartók’s violin music opens with a performance of Contrasts marked by wonderful shaping, ...
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ReviewExoticism. Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor op.9, Nocturne and Tarantella op.28, Song of Roxane (arr. Kocha?ski), Mythes op.30, Prelude op.1 no.1 in B minor (arr. Bacewicz)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Luxuriant accounts of the composer’s chamber music for violinMusicians: Jerzy Kaplanek (violin) Stéphan Sylvestre (piano)Composer: SzymanowskiSzymanowski’s violin music owes its very existence to his friend, violinist Pawel Kocha?ski. ‘I am indebted to him alone,’ the composer declared, ‘for imparting to me his profoundly ...
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ReviewMusique romantique. Arensky: Quartet in A minor op.35 for violin, viola & two cellos. Sauter: Musique romantique for solo cello & string trio. Tchaikovsky: Andante cantabile for solo cello & string tr
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A satisfying programme of cello-led string worksMusicians: Ten Hagen Quartet, Matthias Bartolomey (cello)Composer: Arensky, Sauter, TchaikovskyThis well-thought-out and original CD has satisfying symmetry to it. Arensky’s Quartet, its middle movement a set of variations on Tchaikovsky’s ‘When Jesus Christ was but a ...
