All Review articles – Page 142
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ReviewTaneyev: String Quartets vol.3: nos.5 & 7
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A rewarding continuation of a survey of the Russian composer’s quartetsMusicians: Carpe Diem QuartetComposer: Taneyev It is a couple of years since I reviewed the Carpe Diem Quartet’s last release in its distinguished ongoing Taneyev series for Naxos (see The ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’, String Quintet in C major D956
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Riveting performances that expose the extremes of Schubertian expressionMusicians: Pavel Haas Quartet, Danjulo Ishizaka (cello)Composer: SchubertThese are superb performances. The Pavel Haas Quartet presents Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet as a dichotomy, pretty much divided into loud Schubert and soft ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Concertos no.1 in D major op.19 & no.2 in G minor op.63, Sonata for two violins in C major op.56, Sonata for solo violin in D major op.115, Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op 80 & no.
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An outstanding collection of Prokofiev’s complete music for violinMusicians: James Ehnes, Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin) Andrew Armstrong (piano) BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea NosedaComposer: ProkofievGianandrea Noseda quietly raises the orchestral curtain on a performance of Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto that is arguably the ...
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ReviewPaganini: The Twenty-four Caprices op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Unusually exploratory performances of a well-known set of virtuoso studiesMusicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin)Composer: PaganiniModern pedagogy (and strings) make the challenges of these Caprices more surmountable today than in Paganini’s times, but few recordings search out the musical depths as convincingly as the ...
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ReviewLigeti: Violin Concerto, Lontano, Atmosphères, San Francisco Polyphony
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A sonically impressive account of a masterly violin concertoMusicians: Benjamin Schmid (violin) Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)Composer: LigetiConductor Hannu Lintu goes as far as to refer to Ligeti as a Romantic composer in his informative booklet notes to this beautifully delivered ...
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ReviewAmerican Classics. Higdon: Amazing Grace, Sky Quartet, Viola Sonata, Dark Wood, String Trio
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Mixed results on a disc of contemporary American chamber musicMusicians: Serafin Quartet: Kate Ransom, Timothy Schwarz (violin) Molly Carr (viola) Lawrence Stomberg (cello) with Eric Stomberg (bassoon) Charles Abramovic (piano)Composer: Jennifer HigdonJennifer Higdon is one of America’s most respected and widely performed contemporary ...
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ReviewBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor op.38 & no.2 in F major op.99
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Refreshing views of two masterpieces from a young cellistMusicians: Harriet Krijgh (cello) Magda Amara (piano)Composer: BrahmsRecording three solo CDs before you are 23 is no mean achievement, but then Harriet Krijgh, with a whole string of competition triumphs behind her, looks set to become something ...
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ReviewA Suo Amico: Music from the Repertoire of Domenico Dragonetti & Robert Lindley
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A resourceful programme based around duets for cello and bassMusicians: Querelle des Bouffons: Guy Fishman (cello) Robert Nairn (double bass) with Daniel Stepner (violin) Sarah Freiberg (cello)Composer: Corelli, Handel, Viotti, Dragonetti, RossiniGuy Fishman and Robert Nairn attempt to emulate the fruitful partnership enjoyed by Robert Lindley and ...
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ReviewDreamtime. Brahms: Quintet op.1151. Bridge: Lament. Mann: Dreamtime
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A star violist collaborates with members of a great orchestra with winning resultsMusicians: Bernhard Hartog, Rüdiger Liebermann (violin) David Aaron Carpenter, Walter Küssner (viola) Stephan Koncz (cello)Composer: Brahms, Bridge, MannAs opposed to his op.120 sonatas, Brahms left the clarinet part of the Quintet ...
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ReviewBritish Works for Cello and Piano vol.2. Bowen: Cello Sonata in A major op.64. Bax: Cello Sonata in E flat major. Ireland: Cello Sonata in G minor
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Convincing interpretations of three early 20th-century cello sonatasMusicians: Paul Watkins (cello) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Bowen, Bax, IrelandThese three sonatas, penned within two years of each other in the early 1920s, could not have more persuasive advocates than the Watkins brothers, beautifully recorded with both clarity ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartet in F major op.135. Bruckner: String Quartet in C minor. Hartmann: String Quartet no.2. Holliger: String Quartet no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Mixed results in a decidedly motley combination of string quartetsMusicians: Zehetmair QuartetComposer: Beethoven, Bruckner, Hartmann, HolligerBeethoven, Bruckner, Hartmann and Holliger: it’s a weird combination for a CD release – and one that the booklet notes try but fail to make sense of. In reality, ...
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ReviewGuardian Angel. Works by Bach, Biber, Matteis, Tartini & Pisendel
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: A perceptive exploration of lesser-known Baroque solo violin repertoireMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin)Composer: Bach, Biber, Matteis, Tartini, PisendelRachel Podger here includes among her favourite works for unaccompanied violin her own transposed version of Bach’s Flute Partita BWV1013. She communicates Bach’s ‘polyphonic melody’ intelligently and gives ...
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ReviewCall of Bangalore
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A masterclass in Carnatic violin playingMusicians: Jyotsna Srikanth (violin) Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam) N. Amruth (khanjira)Composer: Various While its title makes a pun out of a feature of modern Indian life – the call centre, a Bangalore speciality – ...
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ReviewRöntgen: Cello Concertos nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Three Romantically melodic concertos played with style Musicians: Gregor Horsch (cello) Netherlands Symphony Orchestra/David PorcelijnComposer: RöntgenJulius Röntgen (1855–1932), all but forgotten today, was a key player in German and Dutch musical life in his long and productive career. Although ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94b, Three Pieces from Romeo and Juliet op.64 (arr. Grjunes)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Accounts of Prokofiev that don’t quite hit the markMusicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin) Angela Yoffe (piano)Composer: Prokofiev Angela Yoffe introduces Prokofiev’s First Sonata in world-weary mood, but Vadim Gluzman eventually lifts the gloom with a delicate and wispy tracery. There are recordings of ...
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ReviewPerle: String Quartets no.2 in D minor op.14, no.5 & no.8 ‘Windows of Order’, Molto adagio
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Music for quartet from an American twelve-note pioneerMusicians: Daedalus QuartetComposer: Perle The music of highly regarded American composer George Perle (1915–2009, perhaps best remembered for his writings on Alban Berg) is not heard frequently on the ...
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ReviewTwentieth-century sonatas for cello and piano. Works by Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Consummate playing that mines a rich seam of British cello repertoireMusicians: Alexander Baillie (cello) John Thwaites (piano)Composer: Bridge, Delius, Ireland, Rubbra, Clarke & Keys This release of 20th-century British cello sonatas, recorded over a six-day period ...
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ReviewMunch Suite. Pieces for solo violin by Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinsson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Kovác, Thommessen & Petitgirard
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An appealing presentation of modern music and fine artMusicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin)Composer: Müller, Kernis, Seabourne, Paus, Kleiberg, Kukal, Hakim, Firsova, Martinuson, Kahane, Tzanou, Nelson, Ková?, Thommessen & PetitgirardThe organisers of Norway’s Vestfold International Festival in 2010 commissioned 15 new solo violin pieces for ...
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ReviewD. Matthews: Music for Solo Violin vol.1: Three Studies op.39, 15 Fugues op.88, Winter Journey op.32
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Solo violin works that run the gamut of technique and expressionMusicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin)Composer: D. MatthewsThis disc represents roughly half of David Matthews’s output for solo violin and highlights the composer’s insight into writing for the instrument, despite not being a player himself. ...
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ReviewKuusisto: Violin Concerto op.28, Leika op.24. Corigliano: Violin Concerto ‘The Red Violin’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Passionate accounts of two modern violin concertosMusicians: Elina Vähälä (violin) Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Jaakko KuusistoComposer: Kuusisto, Corigliano Jaakko Kuusisto originally conceived his Violin Concerto for himself, but then handed it over, and dedicated it, to Elina Vähälä. It follows a ...
