All Reviews articles – Page 156
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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ReviewTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. Nielsen: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: Sepember 2012Description: Nimbleness and muscularity from a rising Norwegian star of the violinMusicians: Vilde Frang (violin) Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Eivind Gullberg JensenComposer: Tchaikovsky, Nielsen The concertos of Tchaikovsky and Nielsen are not an obvious coupling, but the young Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang has established ...
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ReviewDedications... A Life in Music. Works by various composers
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A treasure trove of interesting repertoire from a veteran cellistMusicians: Keith Harvey (cello) Linn Hendry, Peter Pettinger, Meralyn Knight (piano)Composer: Various During his professional career as an orchestral soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and ...
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ReviewBach to Jazz. Works by Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ysaÿe, Sarasate, Monti, Kötscher/Plessow, Rodríguez, Ellington, Withers & Desmond
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A dance-based recital of varied violin repertoireMusicians: Caroline Adomeit (violin) Julian Riem (piano) Thomas Hastreiter (percussion)Composer: Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ysaÿe, Sarasate, Monti, Kötscher/Plessow, Rodríguez, Ellington, Withers & DesmondBach’s Third Partita and the 13 ‘encores’ that follow display the esoteric musical tastes of ...
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ReviewSilence, on joue! A Time For Us. Film themes by Rota, Williams, Barry, Morricone, Shore, Horner, Iglesias, Gardel/Rodríguez, Hisaishi, Korngold, Arlen, Chaplin, Dompierre & Myers
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Limited ambition in a collection of film themes arranged for stringsMusicians: Angèle Dubeau (violin) La PietÁ Composer: Rota, Williams, Barry, Morricone, Shore, Horner, Iglesias, Gardel/Rodríguez, Hisaishi, Korngold, Arlen, Chaplin, Dompierre & MyersThere’s a hint of self-indulgence in ...
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ReviewVenice by Night. Works by Albinoni, Lotti, Pollarolo, Porta, Veracini & Vivaldi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A nocturnal celebration of the music of a great cityMusicians: La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler (violin/director) Mhairi Lawson (soprano) Simon Munday (trumpet) Peter Whelan (bassoon)Composer: Albinoni, Lotti, Pollarolo, Porta, Veracini & Vivaldi This compilation reflects the variety of musical fare on offer ...
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ReviewJones: ?Chamber Airs for a Violin (and Thorough Bass)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Well-characterised performance of a mid-17th-century English collectionMusicians: Kreeta-Maria Kentala (violin) Lauri Pulakka (cello) Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord)Composer: Jones Richard Jones’s eight Chamber Airs are strikingly inventive. Comprising three or four movements, they are essentially Italianate in style, but also incorporate French dance elements ...
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ReviewConcertos for Strings with Percussion Orchestra. Sekhon: Lou*. Saunders Smith: Nightshade† . Liptak Concerto for viola and percussion‡. Timpson: Dongxidongxi¶. D. Adams: Camouflage**
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Beautifully crafted accounts of new string concertosMusicians: Carolyn Stuart* (violin) John Graham† (viola) Scott Kluksdahl‡ (cello) Dee Moses¶ (double bass) Haiqiong Deng** (zheng) McCormick Percussion Group/Robert McCormickComposer: Sekhon, Saunders Smith, Liptak, Timpson, D. Adams There’s a small ...
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ReviewVivaldi: La cetra op.9
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Convincing performance of Vivaldi’s set of twelve violin concertosMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin) Holland Baroque SocietyComposer: Vivaldi The undisputed prowess of this album’s personnel sets up high expectations, and these performances do not disappoint. Here, we have lively and animated ...
