All Review articles – Page 162
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ReviewFeldman: Piano and String Quartet
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Radiant account of a modern masterpieceMusicians: Eclipse Quartet, Vicki Ray (piano)Composer: FeldmanA few held chords, some rippling arpeggios, all appearing in countless subtly different combinations yet never rising above a dynamic of quiet restraint. That’s pretty much all there is to Morton ...
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ReviewThe Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Yo-Yo Ma leads a colourful exploration of American roots musicMusicians: Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Stuart Duncan (violin/banjo/mandolin) Edgar Meyer (double bass/piano/gamba) Chris Thile (mandolin/guitar/gamba/vocals) Aoife O’Donovan (vocals)Composer: TradReal-life goat rodeo would be a rough ride indeed, but this is anything but. Instead, it’s ...
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ReviewShostakovich: String Quartets nos.1, 3 & 8
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Beguilingly lyrical accounts of three of Shostakovich’s more neo-Classical worksMusicians: Ludwig QuartetComposer: ShostakovichNow over a quarter of a century old with only two changes of personnel from the original 1985 line-up, the Ludwig Quartet is justly famous for its richly opulent sound ...
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ReviewFrench Impressions. Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonata no.1 in D minor op.75. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major. Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Joshua Bell excels in repertoire that has always been close his heartMusicians: Joshua Bell (violin) Jeremy Denk (piano)Composer: Saint-Saëns, Franck, RavelJoshua Bell and Jeremy Denk have been regular duo partners for seven years now, but this is the first time they have ...
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ReviewHayes: Violin Concerto*, Lucky’s Speech*, Lucky’s Dream*, Port Rhombus, Strides: Books 1 & 2† , Puppet Theatre† , Three Distressed Surfaces† , Slippage† , Lute Stop†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Aerial acrobatics dominate a recent concerto for violinMusicians: Keisuke Okazaki* (violin) Jonathan Powell† (piano) Esbjerg Ensemble/Christopher AustinComposer: HayesYoung British composer Morgan Hayes has a distinctive voice that combines rhythmic complexity with harmonic approachability. It has to be said, though, that the ...
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ReviewIves: Violin Sonatas nos.1–4
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome collection of Ives’s complete sonatas for violinMusicians: Hilary Hahn (violin) Valentina Lisitsa (piano)Composer: IvesThough Charles Ives’s violin sonatas are central to the composer’s chamber music, discs containing all four have been few. The booklet relates that in the past three ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor op.40. Britten: Cello Sonata in C major op.65. Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C major op.119
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A classic repertoire selection let down by an unsympathetic recording balanceMusicians: Jamie Walton (cello) Daniel Grimwood (piano)Composer: Shostakovich, Britten, ProkofievThis grouping of sonatas bound together by the remarkable inspiration of Rostropovich is a well-worn combination on disc. Despite a slightly over-ambient recording, ...
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ReviewHerbert: Serenade for string orchestra op.12, Seven Pieces for cello and string orchestra, Three Pieces for string orchestra
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Little-known string works by an influential composer–cellistMusicians: Maximilian Hornung (cello) Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim/Sebastian TewinkelComposer: HerbertIrish–American composer Victor Herbert (1859–1924) is best remembered for having written a cello concerto that inspired Dvo?ák to write his own B minor work. He was a fine cellist ...
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ReviewStravinsky: Divertimento. Shostakovich: Violin Sonata op.134
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Powerful recordings of two highly different Russian violin worksMusicians: Judith Ingolfsson (violin) Vladimir Stoupel (piano)Composer: Stravinsky, ShostakovichStravinsky’s Divertimento is an arrangement of the music from his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss, a homage to Tchaikovsky. Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel work hard to ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Viola Sonata op.147, Seven Preludes from op.34 (arr. Strakhov), Five Pieces from ‘The Gadfly’ (arr. Borisovsky)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A collection of Shostakovich’s music for viola that extends beyond the valedictory sonataMusicians: Lawrence Power (viola) Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano) Composer: Shostakovich (arr. Strakhov and Borisovsky) Shostakovich wrote just one piece for the viola – his very last one, the ...
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ReviewBritten: Violin Concerto op.15, Double Concerto in B minor (ed. C. Matthews), Lachrymae op.48
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A powerful collection of Britten’s concertante works for violin and violaMusicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) Lawrence Power (viola) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan VolkovComposer: BrittenYou don’t have to know that Britten’s Violin Concerto was written as war broke out in 1939 to sense that ...
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ReviewChausson: Piano Trio in G minor. Debussy: Piano Trio in G major. Rachmaninoff: Trio élégiaque No.2 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Revelatory and benchmark recordings from a vintage trioMusicians: Vienna Schubert TrioComposer: Chausson, Debussy, RachmaninoffThose of us lucky enough to have heard the Vienna Schubert Trio – violinist Boris Kuschnir, cellist MartinuHornstein and pianist Claus-Christian Schuster – during the relatively short period of ...
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ReviewTartini: Violin Sonata ‘Devil’s Trill’. Wieniawski: Polonaise brillante in D major op.4. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 in A minor op.25. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.2 in D major op.94b
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Promise aplenty from a young Polish violinistMusicians: Jaroslaw Nadrzycki (violin) Tadashi Imai (piano)Composer: Tartini, Wieniawski, Enescu, Prokofiev Polish player Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, 27, is relatively little known outside his homeland, but took first prizes at the Khachaturian violin competition in ...
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ReviewKreisler: String Quartet in A minor. Zimbalist: String Quartet in E minor. Ysaÿe: Harmonies du soir op.31
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Three major chamber works by composers who were also violin virtuososMusicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Philharmonic Orchestra of Europe/Otis KlöberComposer: Kreisler, Zimbalist, YsaÿeFritz Kreisler’s salon pieces are enshrined in the violin repertoire, but his more serious works have been largely ignored. His String ...
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ReviewMartynov: The Beatitudes, Schubert-Quintet (Unfinished), Der Abschied
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Moving performances of Russian music with a spiritual flavourMusicians: Kronos Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud (cello)Composer: MartynovThe Kronos Quartet commissioned all these works from Russian composer Vladimir Martynov (b.1946), whose music is imbued with a deep spirituality. Like all these works The Beatitudes is ...
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ReviewCarte Postale. Music by BrandÁo, Annunziata, Evangelista, Del Aguila, Nicolau, D’Rivera & Ichmouratov
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Music for string quartet with a Latin flavourMusicians: Alcan QuartetComposer: BrandÁo, Annunziata, Evangelista, Del Aguila, Nicolau, D’Rivera & IchmouratovWhen playing contemporary music of strong character that lies outside the popular mainstream, it is easy to fall into the trap of over-earnestness or ...
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ReviewYou Ain’t Never
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Blues-style music-making from a violin-led jazz quartetMusicians: Andy Aitchison QuartetComposer: Andy Aitchison et alAlthough violinist Andy Aitchison has been around for a while, this is his first album as a leader, and from the off he puts a distinctive stamp on the music. ...
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ReviewModern American Bass. Works by Iadone, Stevens, Porter, Moross, Luening, Beyer, Childs, Perle, Sydeman, Cage, Tenney & Druckman
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A stunning exposition of mastery on the double bassMusicians: Robert Black (double bass) John McDonald (piano)Composer: Iadone, Stevens, Porter, Moross, Luening, Beyer, Childs, Perle, Sydeman, Cage, Tenney & DruckmanUS bassist Robert Black is a founder member of crack new-music group Bang on ...
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ReviewA. Benjamin: Violin Concerto; Romantic Fantasy; Elegy, Waltz and Toccata
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An attractive disc of concertante works for violin and violaMusicians: Lorraine McAslan (violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/John GibbonsComposer: A. BenjaminThe immense popularity of Arthur Benjamin’s Jamaican Rumba has proved a bar to establishing its composer’s credentials as a serious ...
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ReviewNuevo Chamber
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A blend of world and chamber music from a promising new ensembleMusicians: Musical Art QuintetComposer: VariousThe Musical Art Quintet (MAQ) grew out of a San Francisco jam night in 2008 and, now as then, performs new Latin-influenced pieces written or arranged by ...
