All Review articles – Page 160
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ReviewEduard Franck: String Quintets no.1 in E minor op.15 & no.2 in C major op.51
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Admirable performances of quintets by the ‘other’ FranckMusicians: Christiane Edinger (violin) Tassilo Kaiser (violin) Rainer Kimstedt (viola) Uwe MartinuHaiberg (viola) Katharina Maechler (cello)Composer: Eduard FranckAudite’s laudable exploration of the chamber music of Eduard Franck (1817–93) – previous releases have focused on his ...
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ReviewFélicien David: String Quartets no.1 in F minor, no.2 in A major & no.4 in E minor (unfinished)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Welcome advocacy for music by a little-known 19th-century French composerMusicians: Cambini Quartet ParisComposer: Félicien David Félicien David (1810–76), a member of the Saint-Simonian movement and a pioneer in the use of ‘oriental’ material in his music following his ...
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ReviewAchron: Suites for violin and piano nos.1–4, Children’s Suite (arr. Heifetz), salon pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Rewarding exploration of the music of a neglected Russian violinist–composerMusicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano)Composer: AchronLeaving his native Russia after graduating from the class of the legendary Leopold Auer at the St Petersburg Academy, Joseph Achron (1886–1943) settled in Berlin and ...
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ReviewTurina: Piano Quartet in A minor op.67, Violin Sonata no.2 in G major op.82, Escena andaluza op.7, Piano Trio no.1 op.35, La oración del torero
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Chamber music that successfully combines French and Spanish stylesMusicians: Nash EnsembleComposer: Turina Seville-born Joaquín Turina travelled to Paris in 1905 to study at the Schola Cantorum, where he encountered both the clean Classicism of d’Indy and Franck and the ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Cello Sonatas in G minor op.5 no.2 & in C major op.102 no.1, Horn Sonata in F major op.17
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Raw but vital performances from a Norwegian cellistMusicians: Bjørn Solum (cello) Steinar Granmo Nilsen (natural horn) Kristin Fossheim (fortepiano)Composer: BeethovenBoth the cello and the natural horn had limitations as solo instruments at the turn of the 19th century. Add to that Beethoven’s ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trios in C minor op.1 no.3 & in B flat major op.97 ‘Archduke’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Beethoven trio performances marked by skill and ebullienceMusicians: Trio Ex AequoComposer: BeethovenThe members of Trio Ex Aequo have mixed credentials in this genre, but their performances display a striking unanimity and maturity. This results in pleasing and perceptive chamber music ...
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ReviewKorngold: String Sextet in D major op.10*, Piano Quintet in E major op.15†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Opulent performances of two lush chamber worksMusicians: Doric Quartet, Jennifer Stumm* (viola) Bartholomew LaFollette* (cello) Kathryn Stott† (piano)Composer: KorngoldIn this follow-up to the Doric Quartet’s well-received disc of the three Korngold string quartets (reviewed in The Strad, November 2010), the foursome ...
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ReviewBach: Six Suites de danses (Solo Cello Suites BWV1007–11). Rilke: Poetry excerpts
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An unashamedly Romantic approach to Bach’s solo suitesMusicians: Gérard Caussé (viola) Laurent Terzieff (speaker)Composer: Bach & RilkeIn Rainer Maria Rilke’s novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, the poet enumerates what it takes to write the first line of a poem (namely, ...
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ReviewBritten: Cello Suite no.3 op.87. Bach: Cello Suite no.6 BWV1012. Ligeti: Solo Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Impeccable but slightly safe accounts of three solo cello worksMusicians: Miklós Perényi (cello)Composer: Britten, Bach, LigetiMiklós Perényi delivers stunningly accurate accounts of all three solo works in this clear recording, surmounting numerous technical hurdles – and they come thick and fast – ...
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ReviewSchumann: Märchenbilder op.113. Britten: Lachrymae op.48. Shostakovich: Viola Sonata op.147
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Authoritative performances of three viola classicsMusicians: Krzysztof Chorzelski (viola) Katya Apekisheva (piano)Composer: Schumann, Britten, ShostakovichBest known as the viola player of the Belcea Quartet, Krzysztof Chorzelski presents his credentials as a recitalist of the first rank with this CD. In well-honed partnership ...
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ReviewGrieg: String Quartet in G minor op.27. Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor op.115
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A novel coupling that attempts to throw new light on two Romantic classicsMusicians: Hagen Quartet, Jörg Widmann (clarinet)Composer: Grieg & BrahmsThis CD carries a subtitle: ‘Introspective/retrospective’. The introspection is credited to Grieg’s Quartet, on the grounds that he wrote it during a ...
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ReviewSpohr: Complete String Quartets vol.15: no.19 in A major op.68* & no.22 in D minor op.74 no.3†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Recordings that fail to get to grips with the composer’s aestheticMusicians: Moscow Philharmonic Concertino Quartet*, New Budapest Quartet† Composer: SpohrLouis Spohr was an extraordinary violinist with firmly held aesthetic views, of which we know much from his Violinschüle of 1833. Thus it ...
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Review1600. Works by G. Gabrieli, Merula, Salvatore, Macque, Frescobaldi, Castello, Zanetti, Marini, Legrenzi, Bononcini, Torelli, dall’Abaco & Anon
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A vivid portrait of a key century in the development of instrumental musicMusicians: Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini (harpsichord, organ, director)Composer: G. Gabrieli, Merula, Salvatore, Macque, Frescobaldi, Castello, Zanetti, Marini, Legrenzi, Bononcini, Torelli, dall’Abaco & AnonRinaldo Alessandrini’s fascinating programme of largely 17th-century instrumental music ...
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ReviewFox: für Johannes Kepler; BLANK; Trümmermusik: A Berlin Diary 1947; Generic Composition #8; Natural Science; Sol-Fa Canon for Aldo Clementi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Weird and wonderful sounds for strings and electronicsMusicians: Trio Scordatura, Scott McLaughlin (electric guitar)Composer: FoxAs its name might suggest, the Amsterdam-based Trio Scordatura specialises in music that employs unusual and often ear-tweaking tuning systems, using the startling sound combination of voice (doubling ...
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ReviewBuxtehude: 7 Suonate op.2
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Trio sonatas by a composer best known for his organ and vocal musicMusicians: Purcell QuartetComposer: BuxtehudeThis disc complements the Purcell Quartet’s recording of Buxtehude’s only other published chamber collection, the seven sonatas op.1, matching it in unanimity, incisiveness and tonal transparency. ?Both ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Concertos no.3 in G major K216 & no.5 in A major K219, Rondo in C major K373, Adagio in E major K261
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Freshly reconsidered Mozart from a young German–Japanese violinistMusicians: Susanna Yoko Henkel (violin) Lithuanian Chamber OrchestraComposer: MozartThe weighty orchestral opening to Mozart’s Third Concerto here sets the scene for performances that do not spend time looking for supposed period authenticity, but simply play ...
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ReviewGlazunov: String Quartets no.3 in G major op.26 ‘Slavonic’ & no.4 in A minor op.64, Idyll
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Immaculate performances of neglected Russian music for string quartetMusicians: Zemlinsky Quartet, Christoph Ess (horn)Composer: GlazunovIt was with his five string quartets that the young Glazunov first drew attention to himself, and had they carried the name of Borodin, they would surely have ...
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ReviewVerdi: String Quartet in E minor. Puccini: Crisantemi, 3 Minuets, 3 Fugues, Allegro moderato, Scherzo–Allegro
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results in string quartets by two Italian operatic mastersMusicians: Rome QuartetComposer: Verdi, PucciniThe Rome Quartet makes a speciality of Italian repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries, as we are informed in the entertainingly mal-translated booklet. Hence the presence of the ...
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ReviewTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major op.35. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A young prizewinner lays out his stall in two concerto warhorsesMusicians: Ray Chen (violin) Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: Tchaikovsky & MendelssohnIn 2008 the 19-year-old Ray Chen won the Menuhin Competition playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. The following year he won ...
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ReviewDvorák: String Quintet in G major op.77, Nocturne op.40, Scherzo from String Quintet in E flat major op.97
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Masterly account of an unusually scored string quintetMusicians: Berlin Philharmonic QuintetComposer: Dvorák The comparative neglect of Dvo?ák’s glorious G major String Quintet is almost entirely due to its unusual scoring for two violins, viola, cello and double ...
