All Reviews articles – Page 178
-
ArticleMendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64, Octet in E flat major op.20
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: James Ehnes (violin) Philharmonia Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy, Musicians of the Seattle Chamber Music SocietyComposer: MendelssohnRecorded at a concert held in Warwick Arts Centre last January, James Ehnes and his conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy bring a very purposeful opening to Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto before settling ...
-
ArticleMozart: Violin Concertos no.3 in G major K216 & no.5 in A major K219, Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: Febraury 2011Description: Mozart performed with a beguiling 'magic touch'Musicians: Richard Tognetti (violin/director) Christopher Moore (viola) Australian Chamber OrchestraComposer: MozartIt is staggering just how far the orchestral realisation of Classical scores on modern instruments has come in little more than 30 years. Gone ...
-
ArticleBarber: Adagio for strings. Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony no.5. Strauss: Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: New Century Chamber Orchestra/Nadja Salerno-SonnenbergComposer: Barber, Mahler, StraussI have long admired Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg’s vibrant musical personality and rare ability to overcome stylistic prejudice by sheer force of musical will and electrifying spontaneity. This is her third season at the helm of the ...
-
ArticleRapsodia. Enescu: Minstrel from Impressions of Childhood op.28, Violin Sonata no.3 ‘dans le caractère populaire roumain. Ligeti: Duo. Kurtág: 8 Duos for violin and cimbalom op.4. Dinicu: Hora staccato
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Emila Kopatchinskaja (violin/viola) MartinuGjakonovski (double bass) Viktor Kopatchinsky (cimbalom) Mihaela Ursuleasa (piano)Composer: Enescu, Ligeti, Kurtág, Dinicu, Ravel, Sanchez-ChiongPatricia Kopatchinskaja returns to her familial roots with this disc, exploring the music of her native Moldova, neighbouring Romania (which ...
-
ArticleKorngold: Violin Concerto in D major op.35. Dvarionas: Violin Concerto in B minor, Pezzo elegiaco
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin) The Hague Residentie Orchestra/Neeme JärviComposer: Korngold, DvarionasVadim Gluzman brings a joyously unaffected approach to Korngold’s Violin Concerto of 1945. His tone from the start is virile and his articulation pointed rather than over-sugared, and even the opening theme of ...
-
ArticleViola Transcriptions. Arrangements by Lionel Tertis and William Primrose of works by Haydn, Liszt, C.P.E. Bach, J.S. Bach, Paganini, Fauré, Rameau–Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Boccherini, Schubert, A. Benja
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Yizhak Schotten (viola) Katherine Collier (piano)Composer: Haydn, Liszt, C.P.E. Bach, J.S. Bach, Paganini, Fauré, Rameau–Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Boccherini, Schubert, A. Benjamin, Brahms, Grieg, Kreisler & Saint-SaënsLionel Tertis and William Primrose were the two most influential pioneers of modern viola playing, and a recording ...
-
ArticleMéditations. Transcriptions for eight cellos of works by Bloch, Casals, Rachmaninoff, Dvorák, Offenbach, Fauré, Schumann, Wagner, Verdi & Tchaikovsky
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Les Violoncelles FrancaisesComposer: Bloch, Casals, Rachmaninoff, Dvorák, Offenbach, Fauré, Schumann, Wagner, Verdi & Tchaikovsky People usually either love or hate the sound of massed cellos – all that pulsating emotion in every part isn’t for everyone. This disc, with ...
-
ArticleWallin: Livets Dans (Life’s Dance)
Musicians: Anette Wallin (violin/vocals) Harald Svensson (piano)Composer: WallinAnette Wallin is a Swedish riksspelman (nationally recognised folk musician) who has brought her fiddle, vocal and song-writing skills together here, alongside pianist Harald Svensson.All but two of the songs are Wallin’s own, and they capture the disarming, bold simplicity of ...
-
ArticleVivaldi: The Four Seasons. Piazzolla: Four Seasons
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Daniel Rowland (violin) Stellenbosch University CamerataComposer: Vivaldi, PiazzollaDaniel Rowland and the Stellenbosch University Camerata have been performing this spicy cocktail of eight seasons since the ensemble was formed in 2008. Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, originally written for a small band with the composer ...
-
ArticleFreedom
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Stefano Pastor (violin) Giorgio Dini (double bass) George Haslam (baritone saxophone/tarogato) Claudio Lugo (soprano saxophone)Composer: VariousIf the booklet notes for this free-jazz album, which talk of ‘an expression of militancy and belonging’ and ‘disproportion as free search for a further super-proportion’, give ...
-
ArticleMeeting of the Spirits
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Matt Haimovitz (cello) John McLaughlin (guitar) Jan Jarczyck (keyboards) Matt Wilson (drums) UccelloComposer: VariousThe shadow of Villa-Lobos, hard to escape when multiple cellos meet exotic rhythms, pops up several times during these 51 minutes of eclectic string-band jazz from cello octet Uccello. ...
-
ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas no.1 in G major op.78, no.2 in A major op.100 & no.3 in D minor op.108
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Geneviève Laurenceau (violin) Johan Farjot (piano)Composer: BrahmsThe repertoire may be well trodden, but the young French violinist Geneviève Laurenceau here takes us on an unaffected traversal of the Brahms sonatas. Traditional but unmarked shifts of tempo appear in the G major’s opening ...
-
ArticleSaint-Saëns: Cello Concerto no.1 in A minor op.33, Cello Sonata no.1 in C minor op.32*, Romance op.36† , Sérénade from Cello Suite op.16† , Carnaval des animaux*†
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Henri Demarquette (cello) Boris Berezovsky*, Brigitte Engerer† (piano) Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/Joseph SwensenComposer: Saint-SaënsAlthough Henri Demarquette has selected some well-worn Saint-Saëns ‘chestnuts’, they veritably sparkle on this excellent CD. The First Sonata often comes across as a brilliantly crafted work with ...
-
ArticleSmetana: String Quartets no.1 in E minor ‘From My Life’ & no.2 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Bennewitz QuartetComposer: Smetana Listeners may justly feel short-changed by this disc’s mere 46 minutes’ duration, but they will not grumble about the quality of these performances. The young, prize-winning Bennewitz Quartet interprets some of its native music with style and intensity, conveying ...
-
ArticleMusic for My Cello. Meyer: Cello Sonata no.2 op.109. B. Hummel: Fantasias 1 & 2. Regner: Vier Abendlieder. Killmayer: Bayerischer Ländler, Kimbrisches Lied mit Tanz. Theodorakis: East of the Aegean
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Julius Berger (cello)Composer: Meyer, B. Hummel, Regner, Killmayer, TheodorakisSeasoned German cellist Julius Berger celebrates collaborations with five composers on this disc of works written for him during a varied career. It’s hardly surprising that Britten’s influence pervades many contemporary solo cello works, ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonata in C major op.102 no.1. Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821. Brahms: Cello Sonata no.1 in E minor op.38
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Enrico Mainardi (cello) Carlo Zecchi (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Schubert, BrahmsThe attraction of historic recordings is surely to catch a glimpse of legendary musicianship that is magnificent enough to overcome sonic shortcomings – a document that enriches our understanding of both the instrument and ...
-
ArticleVieuxtemps: Fantasia appassionata op.35, Ballade et Polonaise op.38, Fantaisie caprice op.11, Greeting to America op.56
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Misha Keylin (violin) Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Andrew MogreliaComposer: Vieuxtemps‘My admiration increased to the borders of the improbable,’ wrote the 14-year-old Henry Vieuxtemps, having heard Paganini in London in 1834, and that experience did much to shape his own career as player and ...
-
ArticleViolino O Cornetto. 17th-century Italian solo sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Theresa Caudle (violin/cornett) CanzonaComposer: Various Theresa Caudle’s ‘musical journey through the 17th century’ charts the evolution and progress of the solo sonata in Italy and the development of idiomatic writing for the violin. During its course, she demonstrates the vocal and expressive ...
-
ArticleKreutzer: Violin Concertos nos.17 in G major, 18 in E minor & 19 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Axel Strauss (violin) San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra/Andrew MogreliaComposer: KreutzerKreutzer’s place in violin pedagogy is well known, and listeners to these concertos can entertain themselves by spotting melodies from his famous 42 Etudes of 1802. Nonetheless, these are fully formed works in their ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in E flat op.74 ‘Harp’. Nordheim: String Quartet 1956. Bartók: String Quartet no.3
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: EngegŠrd QuartetComposer: Beethoven, Nordheim, BartókThis CD’s booklet explains 2L’s philosophy of using spacious venues where the engineers can create the most intimate recordings free of the confines created by walls. It is indeed a tangible feature of these performances that they seem ...
