All Reviews articles – Page 167
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ArticleSchnittke: String Quartets nos.1–4, Canon in Memoriam Igor Stravinsky
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A Canadian ensemble brings out the songfulness of a modern Russian master’s quartetsMusicians: Molinari QuartetComposer: SchnittkeSchnittke’s four string quartets appeared variously between 1966 and 1989, announced by a work composed originally for the Borodin Quartet that draws upon the micro-gesturing and sonic profiling ...
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ArticleThe Mahler Album. Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony no.5, Adagio from Symphony no.10 (arr. Stadlmair). Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor op.95 ‘Serioso’ (arr. Mahler)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An unusual but telling contribution to the recent Mahler anniversaries from a leading string orchestraMusicians: Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida ThompsonComposer: Mahler (arr. Stadlmair), Beethoven (arr. Mahler)Cast aside any accusations of ‘bleeding chunks’ with this celebration of Mahler: the composer himself often programmed the Adagietto ...
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ArticleThe American Album. Dvorák: String Quartet in F major op.96 ‘American’. Griffes: Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes. Barber: String Quartet in B minor op.11
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Quartets that express different aspects of the American experienceMusicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: Dvorák, Griffes, Barber The booklet describes the Cypress sound as being built up from the bottom register, and in Ethan Filner’s introductory viola motif to Dvo?ák’s ‘American’ Quartet ...
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ArticleBrahms: Viola Sonatas op.120
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Bel canto meets Brahms in some perhaps over-lovingly tended sonata performancesMusicians: Danilo Rossi (viola) Stefano Bezziccheri (piano)Composer: BrahmsThis latest in the apparently unending line of Brahms viola sonata recordings comes from south of the Alps. Danilo Rossi is principal viola at the ...
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ArticleJanácek: Violin Sonata. Schumann: Violin Sonata no. 2 in D minor op.121. Schubert: Fantasy in C major D934
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed success in a recital of varied violin repertoireMusicians: Frank Stadler (violin) Luis MagalhÁes (piano)Composer: Janácek, Schumann, SchubertThe powerful opening chords set the scene for Frank Stadler’s impressively intense performance of Schumann’s Second Sonata. Perfectly capturing the wide mood swings that picture ...
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ArticleReger: Three Suites for solo cello op.131c
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Even top performances can’t rescue Reger’s suites from the practice roomMusicians: Ulrich Horn (cello)Composer: RegerReger’s cello suites are a little bit like cod liver oil: they’re good for you, but would you want to live on them alone? There are a few ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quartet in C minor op.15. Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Some fine performances let down by a piano-dominated balanceMusicians: Primrose Piano QuartetComposer: Fauré & BrahmsThis CD was recorded using a Blüthner piano chosen by Brahms in 1896 for a young British pianist, Margarita Hanson, who had met him while she was studying ...
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ArticleReinecke: Cello Sonatas in A minor op.42, D major op.89 & G major op.238
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Neglected Romantic cello sonatas brought alluringly to lifeMusicians: Manuel Fischer-Dieskau (cello) Connie Shih (piano)Composer: ReineckeThree Romantic sonatas for the cello ought to be enough to set the pulses racing given the relative paucity of worthy material from this period. However, although these ...
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ArticleLeighton: Partita op.35, Elegy op.5, Sonata for Cello Solo op.52, Alleluia Pascha Nostrum op.85
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome collection of music by a master writer for the celloMusicians: Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Raphael Terroni (piano)Composer: LeightonRaphael Wallfisch adds yet another high-quality disc of English music to his impressively extensive discography, with Kenneth Leighton’s complete chamber works for cello. As ...
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ArticleSchumann: String Quartets op.41, Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Recordings of Schumann that are just a little too individualistic for comfortMusicians: Gringolts Quartet, Peter Laul (piano)Composer: SchumannHow you take to the performances by the Gringolts Quartet depends very much on how you respond to the playing of Ilya Gringolts himself in the first violinist’s ...
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ArticleMozart: String Quartet in C major K465 ‘Dissonance’. Schubert: String Quartet in A minor D804 ‘Rosamunde’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A young quartet belies its name in the subtle colouring of its playingMusicians: Chiaroscuro QuartetComposer: Mozart & SchubertFormed in 2005 at the Royal College of Music, the Chiaroscuro Quartet has the inestimable advantage of having Alina Ibragimova as its leader. ...
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ArticleSpirit Song. Works by Jacopo da Bologna, Alexander, B. Turetzky, Hauta-aho & Fricker
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Intriguing but flawed collection from the veteran US duoMusicians: Bertram Turetzky (double bass) Nancy Turetzky (flute)Composer: Jacopo da Bologna, Alexander, B. Turetzky, Hauta-aho & FrickerSpirit Song is Bertram and Nancy Turetzky’s celebration of 50 years of marriage and music making, bringing together ...
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ArticleAlone. Kodäly: Sonata for solo cello. Shchedrin: Russian Fragments. Sollima: Lame, Alone. Schnittke: Improvisation. Casals: Song of the Birds (arr. Geringas)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding solo cello recital from a talented Russian playerMusicians: Boris Andrianov (cello)Composer: Kodäly, Shchedrin, Sollima, Schnittke, Casals (arr. Geringas)Boris Andrianov may not often commit himself to disc – his last solo recording was five years ago – but when he does ...
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ArticleChris Stout’s Brazilian Theory: Live In Concert
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Sparks fly in a multi-continental meeting of fiddle traditionsMusicians: Chris Stout (fiddle) Thomas Rohrer (rabeca/saxophone) Catriona McKay (harp) Carlinhos Antunes (guitar/vocals) Ian Stephenson (guitar) Rui Barossi, Neil Harland (double bass) MartinuO’Neill (bodhran)Composer: Trad.Shetland fiddler Chris Stout leads a pan-global gathering on this ...
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ArticleHandel: Complete Violin Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Stylish accounts of Handel from a German-based ensembleMusicians: Ensemble Vintage Köln: Ariadne Daskalakis (violin) Rainer Zipperling (viola da gamba/cello) Gerald Hambitzer (harpsichord)Composer: HandelThese performers give pride of place to the five echt violin sonatas, but acknowledge the merits of the ...
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ArticleSainte-Colombe: Concerts Á deux violes esgales
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Two masters of the viol in music from the French BaroqueMusicians: Wieland Kuijken, Jordi Savall (bass viol)Composer: Sainte-ColombeThe recordings for this two-disc set were originally made in 1976 and 1992. They embrace ten of Sainte-Colombe’s 67 Concerts, which comprise not only popular ...
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ArticleYoffe: Song of Songs
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Exquisite performances of a sequence of miniatures that unfortunately quickly pallsMusicians: Rosamunde Quartet, Hilliard EnsembleComposer: YoffeRussian-born composer Boris Yoffe’s Book of Quartets is a remarkable project – an ongoing series of short, often single-page pieces for string quartet that he reputedly composes ...
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ArticleSchumann: String Quartets op.41 nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Honest accounts of Schumann’s three string quartetsMusicians: Doric Quartet Composer: SchumannAlthough I have become wedded to the Zehetmair Quartet’s pungent and questioning approach to Schumann’s First and Third quartets on ECM, recordings such as this from the Doric Quartet, which offers ...
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ArticleWieniawski: Violin Concerto no.1 in F sharp minor op.14. Bruch: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor op.26. Bull: Cantabile doloroso e Rondo giocoso
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Incisive playing and rare repertoire combine to make a highly desirable releaseMusicians: Charlie Siem (violin) London Symphony Orchestra/Andrew GourlayComposer: Wieniawski, Bruch, BullUnashamedly presented as a promotional vehicle for Charlie Siem, Warner’s current young violinist of choice, this disc nonetheless contains some interesting ...
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ArticleFranz Benda: Violin Sonatas no.10 in F minor, no.14 in E flat major, no.23 in C minor, no.28 in F major & no.32 in E major
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Persuasive accounts of violin sonatas by an 18th-century Bohemian masterMusicians: Hans-Joachim Berg (Baroque violin) Naoko Akutagawa (harpsichord)Composer: Franz BendaFranz Benda’s sonatas demonstrate his capacity for resourceful melody, structural authority and skilful craftsmanship. The cantabile character of his works was especially noted by ...
