All Reviews articles – Page 146
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ReviewBrahms: Viola Sonata in F minor op.120 no.1. Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 (arr. viola). Franck: Violin Sonata in A major (arr. viola)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A viola disc making a good case for ‘borrowing’ sonatas from other instrumentsMusicians: Tabea Zimmermann (viola) Kirill Gerstein (piano)Composer: Brahms, Schubert, FranckThese sonatas were written for other instruments, but two of them have long been incorporated into the viola’s repertoire, and most violists ...
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ReviewBloch: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2 ‘Poème mystique’, Nigun from Baal Shem. Pärt: Fratres
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Persuasive accounts of the Swiss composer’s violin masterpiecesMusicians: Elsa Grether (violin) Ferenc Vizi (piano) Composer: Bloch, PärtErnest Bloch’s Second Violin Sonata takes the listener on an exotic, dramatic musical journey. It is music well suited to the sensitivity of the young French violinist ...
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ReviewBerg: String Quartet op.3. Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major op.74. Bartók: String Quartet no.1 op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A welcome new release of a great ensemble’s early concert appearanceMusicians: Tokyo QuartetComposer: Berg, Beethoven, Bartók No sooner do we wave farewell to the Tokyo Quartet than it appears on CD back at the beginning again. This is a recital ...
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ReviewBeethoven's Violin Sonatas (complete)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A Beethoven sonata survey that doesn’t quite match the best availableMusicians: Barbara Govatos (violin) Marcantonio Barone (piano)Composer: Beethoven Seasoned Philadelphia-based duo Barbara Govatos and Marcantonio Barone chart the course of Beethoven’s violin sonatas with firm musical values and remarkably accomplished ...
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ReviewYsaÿe: Six Sonatas op.27
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Irreproachable interpretations of Ysaÿe’s solo violin masterpiecesMusicians: Kristóf Baráti (violin)Composer: YsaÿeKristóf Baráti is recorded with exemplary presence in a seductively enveloping acoustic – it feels as though the young Hungarian violinist is standing in the room with you, and the range of dynamics and ...
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ReviewHindemith: Violin Concerto, Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertmusik op.50
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Starry advocacy of a neglected 20th-century violin concertoMusicians: Midori (violin) NDR Symphony Orchestra/Christoph EschenbachComposer: HindemithWe hear far too little of Midori on disc nowadays, so it is especially welcome that she has chosen a work that despite distinguished advocacy on disc from ...
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ReviewAmerican Anthem. Barber: String Quartet op.11, Serenade for string quartet op.1, Dover Beach op.3. Hanson: String Quartet op.23, Concerto da camera op.7. Thompson: Alleluia
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A rewarding programme of American music based around the string quartetMusicians: Ying Quartet, Adam Neiman (piano) Randall Scarlata (baritone)Composer: Barber, Hanson, ThompsonThe starting point of this homage to American chamber music is Barber’s op.11 String Quartet, the second movement of ...
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ReviewSaint-Saëns: Piano Quartet in B flat major op.41, Barcarolle in F major op.108, Piano Quintet in A minor op.14
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Gentle accounts performed with Romantic relishMusicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano)Composer: Saint-SaënsThe Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz find much that is gentle amid the hot-bloodedness of Saint-Saëns’s chamber music. The opening of the B flat major Piano Quartet is seductive, and the ...
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ReviewPrevin: Two Little Serenades. Gould Bassoon Sonata (arr. ?mietana). Bach: Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Impeccable technique and intonation in a wide-ranging recitalMusicians: Alicja ?mietana (violin) Evelyne Berezovsky (piano) Composer: Previn, Gould (arr. ?mietana), Bach, PärtThis is the type of programme we hear all too often as young performers seek to show that they are ...
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ReviewParry: String Quartet no.3 in G major, String Quintet in E flat major
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Admirably clear performances in two world-premiere recordingsMusicians: Bridge Quartet, Robert Gibbs (viola) Composer: ParryParry produced his Third String Quartet in 1878. It was performed two years later and eventually disappeared, to be found in the papers of Gerald Finzi in 1992. This is the first ...
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ReviewMozart: String Quartet in G major K387. Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor op.59 no.2 ‘Rasumovsky’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Highly detailed yet risk-free performances, with rather dry soundMusicians: Meccorre QuartetComposer: Mozart, Beethoven Taking the second prize in last year’s Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, the Polish-based Meccorre Quartet has achieved a great deal since its formation five years ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartet in A minor op.13. Schnittke: String Quartet no.3
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A fresh-faced but patchy disc, despite its intriguing couplingMusicians: Cavaleri QuartetComposer: Mendelssohn, Schnittke My commercial instincts question the viability of a release whenever I encounter such an unusual coupling as this – I wonder about the target audience that ...
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ReviewZemlinsky: String Quartets vol.1: no.3 op.19 & no.4 op.25 (Suite), Zwei Sätze
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Authentically Viennese interpretations from sensitive performersMusicians: Escher QuartetComposer: Zemlinsky As the often neglected fulcrum around whom so many of the great early 20th-century Viennese composers revolved, Alexander Zemlinsky still needs his advocates, but attitudes seem to be ...
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ReviewMartinu: Piano trios (complete): Cinq pièces brèves (Piano Trio no.1), Piano Trio nos.2 & 3 (The Great), Bergerettes
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A subtle account that features fluid and sensitive playingMusicians: Arbor Piano Trio Composer: MartinuThe Arbor Trio brings a strong sense of line and lyricism to Martinu’s Cinq pièces brèves (which count as his First Piano Trio), even when the composer is at his ...
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ReviewGoldmark: Violin Concerto no.1 in A minor op.28; Violin Sonata op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Honest, colourful performances that sometimes underplay the music’s dramaMusicians: Thomas Albertus Irnberger (violin) Pavel Kašpar (piano) Israel Chamber Orchestra/Doron SalomonComposer: Goldmark Goldmark’s Violin Concerto may have suffered from neglect of late, but performances on record include ...
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ReviewWeinberg: Complete music for violin and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: The dark side of human life conveyed in gripping performancesMusicians: Linus Roth (violin) José Gallardo (piano)Composer: WeinbergAnyone who adores Shostakovich’s violin music should find Weinberg’s distinctive musical voice very much to their taste. He too found a way of expressing the dark ...
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ReviewDvorák: Cello concertos in A major (rev. and orch. by Günther Raphael) & in B minor op.104 (with original ending); Lasst mich allein op.82 no.1 (arr. Leopold)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An enterprising coupling somewhat let down by a routine early compositionMusicians: Steven Isserlis (cello) Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: DvorákContinuing his tradition of releasing enterprising and imaginative discs, Steven Isserlis’s Dvorák compilation offers an orchestrated version of the op.82 song quoted in the ...
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ReviewTaylor: Viola Concerto (Humoreskes), Symphony no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Definitive interpretations of impressively constructed musicMusicians: Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Garry WalkerComposer: Taylor The Viola Concerto by London-born Matthew Taylor (b.1964) was written in 2010 and premiered by Sarah-Jane Bradley the following year. Its five short movements ...
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ReviewBritten: Suites for solo cello; Tema ‘Sacher’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Strongly characterised accounts from a meticulous playerMusicians: Jamie Walton (cello)Composer: BrittenWith this recording of the Suites for solo cello, British cellist Jamie Walton has now committed all of Britten’s cello works to disc. They are excellent interpretations with an exceptional sense of flow, and ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin sonatas in F minor op.120 no.1, and E flat major op.120 no.2. Schumann, Dietrich, Brahms: ‘FAE’ Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Elegant, spontaneous Brahms in period-influenced performancesMusicians: Annemarie Šström (violin) Terhi Dostal (piano)Composer: Brahms, Schumann, DietrichUnderpinned by pianist Terhi Dostal’s own Brahms scholarship, this recording nods towards historical performance ideals, making use of gut violin strings and the reconditioned 1880 Streicher piano preserved in the ...
