All Review articles – Page 155
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ReviewFauré: Piano Quartets no.1 in C minor op.15 & no.2 in G minor op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Ideal accounts of Fauré’s two piano quartetsMusicians: Daishin Kashimoto (violin) Lise Berthaud (viola) François Salque (cello) Eric Le Sage (piano)Composer: FauréAlpha’s ongoing series of Fauré’s chamber music with piano centres not unnaturally on pianist Eric Le Sage. Thus it’s perhaps fair to ...
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ReviewFeldman: Complete music for violin and piano: Spring of Chosroes, Extensions 1, Extensions 3, Vertical Thoughts 2, Vertical Thoughts 4, For Aaron Copland, Piece for violin and piano, Projection IV, Pi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An enlightening exploration of the music of an American modernist masterMusicians: Andreas Seidel (violin) Steffen Schleiermacher (piano)Composer: FeldmanUS composer Morton Feldman (1926–87) didn’t write that much for the combination of violin and piano, as the informative booklet notes to this compelling two-disc ...
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ReviewLiebermann: Cello sonatas nos.1—4, Album Leaf op.66
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding cycle of sonatas, warmly playedMusicians: Dmitri Atapine (cello) Adela Hyeyeon Park (piano)Composer: Liebermann Cello sonatas have punctuated Lowell Liebermann’s career as one of America’s most frequently performed composers. His four works in the medium are written in ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Cello Sonatas op.5 no.1 in F major & no.2 in G minor, Variations on Mozart’s ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ op.66, Variations on Handel’s ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ WoO45
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Imaginative period-instrument accounts of familiar musicMusicians: Rainer Zipperling (cello) Boyan Vodenitcharov (fortepiano)Composer: Beethoven These performances are infused with tremendous spirit and vivid dynamic colour, lending genuine excitement to some of the most frequently recorded music in the cello repertoire. ...
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ReviewHindemith: String Quartets no.2 in F minor op.10 & no.3 in C major op.16
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A promising start to a welcome Hindemith cycleMusicians: Amar QuartetComposer: HindemithDespite the distinguished advocacy on disc of many fine ensembles, Hindemith’s seven string quartets have failed to establish themselves in the regular playing repertoire to the same extent as, say, ...
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ReviewBach: Violin Partitas no.2 in D minor BWV1004 & no.3 in E major BWV1006. Auerbach: par.ti.ta. Ysaÿe: Sonata in A minor op.27 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Gripping solo playing from a master violinistMusicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin)Composer: Bach, Auerbach, Ysaÿe Recorded in a fairly generous, open acoustic, Vadim Gluzman’s deftly articulated, gently cushioned playing comes across as particularly alluring in surround-sound of almost tactile presence. Solo ...
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ReviewStravinsky: Violin Concerto, Circus Polka. Martin: Violin Concerto. Honegger: Pacific 231, Rugby
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A highly rewarding coupling of two 20th-century violin concertosMusicians: Baiba Skride (violin) BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Thierry FischerComposer: Stravinsky, Martinu HoneggerThe excellent Latvian violinist Baiba Skride turns her hand first to Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto on this disc of mid-20th-century treasures. She dances ...
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ReviewSchubert: Violin Sonatas in D major D384, A minor D385, G minor D408 & A major D574
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A successful start to a historically informed Schubert cycleMusicians: Jacqueline Ross (violin) Maggie Cole (fortepiano)Composer: Schubert Schubert’s three op.137 sonatas were downgraded to sonatinas after his death. Here they have their dignity restored, but are performed with a lighter touch than many ...
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ReviewConnections. Debussy: Cello Sonata. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major (arr. cello). Chausson: Pièce op.39. Fauré: Papillon op.77
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Imperfections in recording and performance mar an otherwise interesting collectionMusicians: Winona Zelenka (cello) Connie Shih (piano)Composer: Debussy, Franck, Chausson, Fauré This is Canadian cellist Winona Zelenka’s second release (her first, in 2010, was of the Bach Cello Suites, not ...
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ReviewItalian Virtuoso Cello Sonatas. Locatelli: Cello Sonata in D major. Valentini: Cello Sonata in E major. Boccherini: Cello Sonata no.6 in A major. Donizetti: Largo in G minor
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A successful marrying of old and new, in terms of musicology and playingMusicians: Eva Kochenkova (cello) Morten Mogensen (piano)Composer: Locatelli, Valentini, Boccherini, DonizettiThis disc largely comprises readings of editions by Alfredo Piatti, who took various liberties. technical, notational, textural and otherwise, including ...
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ReviewGál: Cello Concerto op.67. Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor op.85
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: The first recording of a little-known concerto coupled with an old favouriteMusicians: Antonio Meneses (cello) Northern Sinfonia/Claudio CruzComposer: Gál & Elgar The Austrian composer Hans Gál (1890–1987) settled in Britain after escaping the Anschluss in 1938, making his home ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartet in F minor op.95 ‘Serioso’. Schubert: String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Blistering playing from a young Italian ensembleMusicians: Prometeo QuartetComposer: Beethoven & SchubertThe DVD version of this two-in-one release has the quartet surrounded by columns and microphones, attended by a small Classical torso. It also has short interviews with the composer Salvatore Sciarrino ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartets in E flat major D87 & in G major D887
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Early and mature Schubert brought to life in immaculate performancesMusicians: Casals QuartetComposer: Schubert From the mysterious opening of the G major Quartet, a score of epic scale whose length exceeds most symphonies of the period, the Casals Quartet fills ...
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ReviewEternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul. A Dudele, Mizmor L’Dovid, Shoyfer Shel Moshiakh, Romanian Doyne, T’filas Tal, Yism’chu, R’tzay, Dem Trisker Rebn’s Nign, Sheyibone Bays Hamikdosh, Kol ni
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: The Israeli—American violinist explores his Jewish rootsMusicians: Itzhak Perlman (violin) Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (cantor) Hankus Netsky (piano/arranger) various instrumentalistsComposer: TradItzhak Perlman has made klezmer recordings in the past. Here he has joined forces with the renowned cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot ...
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ReviewKraus: Viola Concertos in E flat major & C major, Concerto in G major for viola and cello
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Fearless performances of familiar concertos under a new attributionMusicians: David Aaron Carpenter (viola) Riitta Pesola (cello) Tapiola SinfoniettaComposer: KrausI was more than a little surprised when a CD of viola concertos by Mozart’s exact contemporary Joseph MartinuKraus arrived, since I didn’t even ...
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ReviewVanhal: Cello Concertos in C major, A major & C major
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Generally solid accounts of newly rediscovered Classical concertosMusicians: Péter Szabó (cello/conductor) Sinfonietta PannonicaComposer: VanhalPéter Szabó here disseminates more outcomes from his enterprising explorations of library and museum shelves, presenting three world premiere recordings of cello concertos by Vanhal, based on manuscript sources. ...
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ReviewPresent. Works by Halvorsen, Kukal, Ströble, Cirri, Schulhoff & Ravel
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results in a wide-ranging recital for violin and celloMusicians: Eight Strings: Valeria Nasushkina (violin) Mikael Samsonov (cello)Composer: Halvorsen, Kukal, Ströble, Cirri, Schulhoff & Ravel This disc sheds light on some of the byways of music for violin and cello, ...
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ReviewYoung: Works for viola da gamba consort
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An interesting revival of music from the English BaroqueMusicians: Hamburger Ratsmusik/Simone Eckert (viola da gamba/director)Composer: Young Viol player William Young’s collection of Sonate a 3, 4 e 5 (1653) was the first by an Englishman explicitly to prescribe the ...
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ReviewBrahms By Arrangement Vol.1. Brahms: String Quintet in F minor op.34, String Quintet in B minor op.115
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results on a disc of familiar Brahms in rarer guisesMusicians: Zebra Trio, Krysia Osostowicz (violin) James Boyd (viola) Richard Lester (cello)Composer: Brahms For Brahms enthusiasts, the major draw of this release will be Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen’s ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Refreshingly intimate Brahms from a refined playerMusicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) Aleksandar Madžar (piano)Composer: BrahmsAnthony Marwood’s Brahms is like no other. The centralist viewpoint, familiar from countless recordings, is that these sonatas are chamber music writ large, requiring generous quantities of ...
