All Reviews articles – Page 179
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ArticleTim Key With a String Quartet. On a Boat.
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Absurdist comedy meets the string quartet on a disc of music and poetryMusicians: Tim Key, Tom Basden (voice) Vicky Sutherland, Amy May (violin) Nat Jones (viola) Katy Wright (cello)Composer: VariousAdmittedly, this is not primarily a musical disc. Tim Key is a British comedian ...
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ArticleCorelli's Legacy. Sonatas by Corelli, Carbonelli, Mossi, Visconti, Castrucci, Locatelli & Montanari
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Mixed rewards in a collection exploring rarities of the Baroque sonata repertoireMusicians: Musica Antiqua RomaComposer: Corelli, Carbonelli, Mossi, Visconti, Castrucci, Locatelli & MontanariMusica Antiqua Roma showcases some of the legacy of Corelli’s Sonatas op.5, which served as models for numerous subsequent examples ...
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ArticleHonegger: Complete Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A unique collection of Honegger’s chamber music for violinMusicians: Laurence Kayaleh (violin) Paul Stewart (piano)Composer: HoneggerLaurence Kayaleh and Paul Stewart follow up their fine two-disc Medtner survey for Naxos with the only single disc of Honegger’s four violin sonatas currently available. It ...
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ArticleThe Road to Damascus
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Folk fiddling explores music from both sides of the AtlanticMusicians: Notorious Composer: VariousThe Notorious central duo of fiddler–singer Eden MacAdam-Somer and guitarist–banjo-player Larry Unger are joined by mandolin, percussion and bass here in a collection of traditional and original American folk ...
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ArticleFlight Mode
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Jazz violin playing that experiments with boundaries of the mediumMusicians: Chris Garrick (violin) ?David Gordon (keyboards) Ole Rasmussen (double bass) Tom Hooper (drums)Composer: VariousChris Garrick’s first release as a bandleader for five years finds the British jazz violinist on fine form. As ...
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ArticleSoli
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A treat for fans of Norwegian fiddle playingMusicians: Synnøve Bjørset, Šse Teigland, Anne Hytte (Hardanger fiddle)Composer: VariousA hardcore Hardanger album in the best sense, this disc will appeal both to devotees of the instrument and those new to the distinctive sound of ...
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ArticleRubinstein: Piano Trios nos.1–5
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Edlian Piano TrioComposer: RubinsteinThere is a lot more (thankfully) to Anton Rubinstein’s creative talent than the penny-plain phrases of the once ubiquitous Melody in F. Although his skilfully wrought music may lack the strong emotional profile of his one-time student Tchaikovsky, his ...
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ArticleSaint-Saëns: Violin Concertos no.1 in A major op.20, no.2 in C major op.58 & no.3 in B minor op.61
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Fanny Clamagirand (violin) Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/Patrick GalloisComposer: Saint-SaënsStrength of rhetoric and hauntingly memorable melodies make Saint-Saëns’s violin concertos highly effective compositions, especially the large-scale and detectably Mendelssohnian Second. The fiery playing of Fanny Clamagirand, an ex-student of Jean-Jacques Kantorow at the Paris ...
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ArticleSibelius: String Quartet in D minor op.56 ‘Voces intimae’. Schoenberg: String Quartet no.1 in D minor op.7
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A spare, intense reading of Brahms and SchoenbergMusicians: Tetzlaff QuartetComposer: Sibelius, SchoenbergSibelius and Schoenberg might seem an unlikely pairing, but the two composers’ D minor quartets are well matched for their obsession with musical process, Sibelius with Beethovenian motivic development, ...
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ArticleLolli: Sonatas for violin & basso continuo op.1 no.4, op.3 nos.2, 4–6 & op.9 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Luca Fanfoni, Antonella Tanetti (violin) Marianne Chen (cello) Paola Del Giudice (harpsichord) Erich Galliani (guitar) Composer: LolliLuca Fanfoni and his colleagues offer variable accounts of a cross-section of Antonio Lolli’s sonatas, eccentric works that proved significant precursors of Paganini’s virtuoso ...
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ArticleThe Path. Yanov-Yanovsky: Chang Music IV movements 1 & 2 Pärt Von Angesicht zu Angesicht, Summa. Medyulyanova: Ewige Ruhe. Vrebalov: The Spell III. Tavener: Epistle of Love, Sámaveda. Nadarejshvili: Q
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Carducci Quartet, Elizabeth Cooney (violin) Joachim Roewer (viola) Malachy Robinson (double bass), etcComposer: Yanov-Yanovsky, Pärt, Medyulyanova, Vrebalov, Tavener, NadarejshviliThe players of the excellent Carducci Quartet are the perfect exponents of this lyrical yet gritty collection of contemporary music, which includes world premiere ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Concertos no.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Arabella Steinbacher (violin) Suisse Romande Orchestra/Marek JanowskiComposer: Bartók Soloist, conductor, Swiss orchestra and recording team here combine to give us one of the best versions of the massive 1938 Bartók Second Violin Concerto. There is a nice easy swing to ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonatas nos.1–5, Sonata in F major op.17
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Peter Martens (cello) Luis MagalhÁes (piano)Composer: BeethovenThe marketing hook for this set lies in the artists’ reference to Czerny’s insights on performing Beethoven’s music, paying particular attention to the younger composer’s recommended metronome markings. Fervent adherence to these suggestions results in some ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas in G major op.78, A major op.100 & D minor op.108
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Affecting and lyrical interpretations of BrahmsMusicians: Stefan Jackiw (violin) Max Levinson (piano)Composer: BrahmsSony has only recently issued the three Brahms sonatas played by Jack Liebeck (reviewed September 2010), but the young American violinist Stefan Jackiw hits such a high level ...
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ArticleBach: Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin BWV1001–1006
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Sergey Khachatryan (violin)Composer: BachThis is wonderfully expressive playing, of a kind that I was beginning to fear had gone for ever. In an interview I saw, Sergey Khachatryan refused to name role models, but I would be surprised if he ...
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ArticleVirtuoso. Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor ‘Devil’s Trill’ (arr. Kreisler). Bach: Chaconne from Partita in D minor BWV1004. Wieniawski: Légende op.17, Variations on an Original Theme op.15. Franck: V
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Ray Chen (violin) Noreen Polera (piano)Composer: Tartini, Bach, Wieniawski, FranckSuccess in the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition has brought the Taiwanese-born violinist Ray Chen an exclusive recording contract with Sony. It is pleasing to find that his debut release is not simply a ...
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ArticleBach: Six Suites for solo cello BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Light, intriguing performances of the later Bach suitesMusicians: Roel Dieltiens (cello) Composer: BachBelgian cellist Roel Dieltiens, for years continuo cellist for Rene Jacobs and principal cello of the Orchestra of the 18th Century, is true to his period roots ...
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ArticleViola altera. Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy op.25. Händel–Halvorsen: Passacaglia. Paganini: Caprices nos.4, 6, 7, 11 & 24, La campanella (arr. Primrose)
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: MÁ tè Szücs (viola) László Fenyö (cello) Daniel Blumenthal (piano)Composer: Sarasate, Händel–Halvorsen, PaganiniThis recording’s title – ‘The Proud Viola’ – and its contents (not to mention a booklet note that deplores the sad fate of viola players, condemned to play just chamber ...
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ArticleMozart in Italien. Linley: Violin Concerto in F major. Lamotte: Violin Concerto no.2 in D major. Hasse: Sinfonia from ‘Ruggiero’. Rauzzini: Sinfonia in D major. Mozart: Sinfonia in D major K111/120
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Mirijam Contzen (violin) Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic/Reinhard GoebelComposer: Linley, Lamottem, Hasse, Rauzzini, Mozart The focal works in this full concert programme, based on Mozart’s learning experiences in Italy, are the violin concertos of Thomas Linley and Franz Lamotte. Mirijam Contzen, Reinhard Goebel and ...
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ArticleMozart: Duos in G major K423 & B flat K424. Michael Haydn: Duos in C major, D major, E major and F major P127–30
The Strad Issue: January 2011Musicians: Maya Magub (violin) Judith Busbridge (viola)Composer: Mozart, Michael HaydnThese works are inextricably linked in history. Mozart ‘ghostwrote’ his two duos as a favour to Michael Haydn, who, due to illness, would otherwise have been unable to complete a commissioned set of six. ...
