All Reviews articles – Page 149
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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 ...
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ReviewAurora. Music by Szymanowski, Ravel, Ysaÿe & Lutoslawski
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Colourful, lithe performances of some sensual repertoireMusicians: Janusz Wawrowski (violin) José Gallardo (piano)Composer: Szymanowski, Ravel, Ysaÿe & LutoslawskiAs anyone who has heard his fine recording of the Paganini Caprices on Accord will testify, Janusz Wawrowski possesses a formidable technique, allied to a ...
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ReviewBliss: Viola Sonata. Bax: Viola Sonata. Vaughan Williams: Suite for viola and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: No-nonsense yet charming performances of sonatas written for Tertis Musicians: Christian Euler (viola) Paul Rivinius (piano) Composer: Bliss, Bax, Vaughan WilliamsIt is a good sign that the Lionel Tertis repertoire of English music from the early 20th century ...
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ReviewSonnerie and other portraits. Music by Marais, Rameau, Francoeur, Leclair, Du Phly & Dornel
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Musical portraits from the 18th century that put the gamba in the spotlightMusicians: FantasticusComposer: Marais, Rameau, Francoeur, Leclair, Du Phly & DornelNetherlands-based period trio Fantasticus here offers a selection of 18th-century musical portraits and commemorative pieces by French composers. Although the recorded ...
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ReviewBarber: Cello Concerto op.22, Cello Sonata op.6, Adagio for strings op.11
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Expansive, cantabile accounts of Barber’s engaging cello musicMusicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) Kathryn Stott (piano) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew LittonComposer: Barber How good to have a fresh recording of Barber’s Cello Concerto after rather a dearth of versions over the past ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trio op.97 ‘Archduke’, Piano Trio in E flat major WoO38, Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A good-natured ‘Archduke’ that highlights the piece’s singing qualitiesMusicians: Ida Bieler (violin) Maria Kliegel (cello) Nina Tichman (piano)Composer: BeethovenIt is a never-ending source of wonder how distinguished musicians can produce such fundamentally different accounts of the same score, while keeping within well-defined interpretative ...
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ReviewLigeti: String quartets nos.1 & 2. Barber: Molto adagio from String Quartet op.11
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Revelatory performances of jarringly juxtaposed repertoireMusicians: Keller QuartetComposer: Ligeti, Barber It’s hard to know what to admire most about this remarkable new disc – the bravery of the strange but compelling juxtaposition of repertoire; the technical brilliance of ...
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ReviewGrieg: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Two players at one with the composer’s lyrical freshnessMusicians: Christian Svarfvar (violin) Helge Kjekshus (piano)Composer: Grieg The C minor (no.3) may be the most overtly dramatic of Grieg’s three violin sonatas, yet for sheer enchantment and lyrical ...
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ReviewSolo. Cassadó: Suite for solo cello. Ginastera: Puneña no.2 op.45. Ligeti: Sonata. Kodály: Sonata op.8
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Masterful playing in a highly persuasive solo cello programmeMusicians: Santiago Cañón Valencia (cello)Composer: Cassadó, Ginastera, Kodály Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia delivers simply tremendous playing on this warmly recorded CD. In fact, I would go as far as to say ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Cello Concertos no.1 op.107 and no.2 op.126
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A coupling at its best when the soloist loses his inhibitionsMusicians: Dmitry Kouzov (cello) St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir LandeComposer: ShostakovichThis recording fulfils a dream for Dmitry Kouzov, whose passion for Shostakovich was fuelled by being born in the same city, St ...
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ReviewStenhammar: String Quartets vol.1: no.3 in F major op.18 & no.4 in A minor op.25, Elegi & Intermezzo op.39
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An imposing start to a Stenhammar quartet cycleMusicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: StenhammarDespite being one of the most important Swedish musicians of the early 20th century, Wilhelm Stenhammer (1871–1927) has only recently begun receiving his full due as a composer. His distinguished series of ...
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ReviewAn American in Paris. Poulenc: Violin Sonata op.119. Ives: Decoration Day. Gershwin: An American in Paris (transc. Heifetz), Five selections from ‘Porgy and Bess’ (transc. Heifetz). Ravel: Violin Sona
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A worthy celebration of Franco–American musical relationshipsMusicians: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Poulenc, Ives, Gershwin, RavelTamsin Waley-Cohen celebrates her joint American and European heritage on this CD, most obviously with the title track, of which more later. She opens with Poulenc’s ...
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ReviewChaconne. Works by Saint-Saëns, Lalo, Brahms, Wieniawski, Bach, Sarasate & Mozart
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Inimitable playing from a veteran violinistMusicians: Ida Haendel (violin) Yukari Arai, Walter Delahunt (piano)Composer: Saint-Saëns, Lalo, Brahms, Wieniawski, Bach, Sarasate & MozartThis CD has taken a while to reach us. It was recorded in 2008 when the great fiddler was a mere ...
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ReviewSaariaho: Chamber works for strings vol.1: Tocar, Vent nocturne, Calices, Spins and Spells, Nocturne, Nymphéa
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Individual quartet members come to the fore in a disc of contemporary soundsMusicians: Meta4, Anna Laakso (piano) Marko Myöhänen (electronics)Composer: SaariahoIt’s hard to imagine more passionate, committed or meticulously crafted accounts of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s exquisitely strange chamber music for strings ...
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ReviewPart Two
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A successful follow-up to a jazz–classical group’s disc debutMusicians: Basquiat Strings: Emma Smith, Vicky Fifield (violin) Jennymay Logan (viola) Ben Davis (cello) Richard Pryce (double bass) Seb Rochford (drums)Composer: VariousLed by London-based improvisatory cellist Ben Davis, Basquiat Strings caused a stir in ...
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ReviewEnescu: Complete Works for Violin and Piano vol.1: Violin Sonatas in A minor ‘Torso’, no.2 in F minor op.6 & no.3 in A minor op.25 ‘dans le caractère populaire roumain’, Impromptu concertant
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Highly successful performances of music from Enescu’s youth and maturityMusicians: Axel Strauss (violin) Ilya Poletaev (piano)Composer: EnescuIn common with many composers working in a post-Romantic idiom, George Enescu struggled initially to find his own stylistic niche, as is exemplified by the early ...
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ReviewGhedini: Violin Sonatas in A major & E flat major, Bizzarria, Due poemi
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Welcome complete recording of an Italian composer’s violin musicMusicians: Emy Bernecoli (violin) Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi (piano)Composer: GhediniGiorgio Federico Ghedini (1892–1965) was one of a large number of composers active during the first half of the last century whose music is so poetically ...
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ReviewDvorák: Cello Concerto in A major (orch. Burghauser), Serenade for Strings
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A brave attempt to revive the composer’s abandoned first concertoMusicians: Musica Viva/Alexander Rudin (director/cello)Composer: DvorákListening to this early concerto, one can almost hear Dvorák asking ‘Why?’ Why, when he left it unorchestrated and unperformed, and told his students that he regretted its ...
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ReviewBritten: Cello Suites no.1 in G major op.72, no.2 in D major op.80 & no.3 in C minor op.87
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Mixed results in a centenary tribute to BrittenMusicians: Antoine Pierlot (cello)Composer: BrittenFrench cellist Antoine Pierlot offers persuasive accounts of Britten’s three solo suites in a clear recording taken from a live concert. There are some movements, however, in which a more discernible line ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Sonatas no.1 in G major op.78, no.2 in A major op.100 and no.3 in D minor op.108
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Brahms playing that is perhaps too self-regarding for comfortMusicians: Sergey Khachatryan (violin) Lusine Khachatryan (piano)Composer: BrahmsSergey and Lusine Khachatryan present Brahms’s First Sonata as seen through the eyes of the daydreaming Schumann, with the music often wistful, frequently sad, and on occasion ...
