All Reviews articles – Page 182
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ArticleWalton: Violin Concerto, Symphony no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Kurt Nikkanen (violin) New Haven Symphony Orchestra/William BoughtonComposer: Walton This disc is the first fruit of a project to record Walton’s music with an eye on the manuscript sources held at Yale University, where the New Haven Symphony Orchestra performs. As ...
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ArticleDragonetti: Quartet no.1, Quintets nos.13, 18 & 31
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Dragonetti’s New Academy: John Feeney (double bass) Loma Mar QuartetComposer: DragonettiDomenico Dragonetti is best known for the reputation he made for himself as a double bassist in London. His music, here represented by string chamber works with bass, is charismatic and quirky ...
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ArticleMartinu: Cello Sonatas nos.1, 2 & 3, Variations on a Slovak Theme, Variations on a Theme of Rossini
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Paul Watkins (cello) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Martinu Of all 20th-century composers, Martinu was one of the most generous to the cello and indeed both sets of variations as well as the Second Sonata are firmly established in the repertoire. ...
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ArticlePaganini: La Campanella from Violin Concerto no.2 in B minor op. 7, Introduction and Variations on ‘Non più mesta’ from Rossini’s La cenerentola op.12 etc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Philippe Quint (violin) Dmitriy Cogan (piano)Composer: PaganiniThis disc brings together two of the most famous violinists of all time. Kreisler’s arrangements of Paganini are mainly confined to providing piano accompaniments and they cohesively complement the original works.Philippe Quint, ex-Juilliard School and nominated ...
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ArticleSchumann: Cello Concerto in A minor op.129 (arr. Schumann), Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor op.121. Clara Schumann: Three Romances op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Philippe Graffin (violin) Claire Désert (piano) German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern/Christoph PoppenComposer: R Schumann, C SchumannIt’s strange that violinists haven’t hijacked Schumann’s own violin version of his Cello Concerto, for it makes a more readily attractive work than his subsequent D minor ...
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ArticleMozart: String Quintets in B flat major K174, C minor K406, C major K515, G minor K516, D major K593 & E flat major K614
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Nash Ensemble, Philip Dukes (viola)Composer: MozartMozart’s complete string quintets comprise four extraordinary works from his maturity alongside two early pieces that probably would not have survived had they not had his name attached. The Nash Ensemble players, however, persuade us that the ...
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ArticleGrieg: Suite From Holberg’s Time op.40, Two Nordic Melodies op.63. Amper: Abrégé. Larsen: Diplom
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Gjermund Larsen (fiddle) Emilia Amper (nyckelharpa) Trondheim SoloistsComposer: Grieg, Amper, LarsenA selection of Grieg’s string music is here played by a crack Norwegian chamber orchestra. The results virtually take my breath away, but I have enough left to report that the playing ...
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ArticleHandel: Concerti Grossi op.6
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Avison Ensemble/Pavlo BeznosiukComposer: Handel These are urbane performances, constantly engaging, fascinating in the minutiae of the playing, the sharing of prominence between parts, and in the conversational ebb and flow of counterpoint. The Avison musicians produce a rich, legato sound, with ...
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ArticleViolin Faces. Zimmermann: Sonata. Hartmann: Second Sonata. Berio: Sequenza VIII. Kee-Yong Chong: For Another Better World
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Wibert Aerts (violin)Composer: Zimmermann, Hartmann, Berio, Kee-Yong ChongThere’s often a danger of discs of contemporary solo violin music being a bit indigestible for one sitting, particularly if the music is relentlessly percussive, but Belgian player Wibert Aerts has crafted this disc to ...
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ArticleThe Mosaic Nomad. Works by Gurdjeff & de Hartmann (arr. Solaris Quartet)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Solaris QuartetComposer: Gurdjeff & de Hartmann (arr. Solaris Quartet)Greek–Armenian mystic George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff travelled extensively through Central Asia, Russia and Egypt, collecting sacred, monastic and tribal music and then transcribing and arranging it with the help of Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann ...
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ArticleDéfense de la Basse de Viole contre les Enterprises du Violon et les Prétentions du Violoncelle. Works by M. & R. Marais, Du Boisson, Demachy, Sainte-Colombe Snr & Jr, Morel, Cappus, Dollé, De Caix d’
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ricercar ConsortComposer: M. & R. Marais, Du Boisson, Demachy, Sainte-Colombe Snr & Jr, Morel, Cappus, Dollé, De Caix d’Hervelois, Dornel, Duval, Rebel, Leclair, Corrette, Bodin de Boismortier, Masse, Barrière & CanavasThese recordings are devoted to the French string repertoire around the time ...
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ArticleViolin with the Polish Soul. Works by Wieniawski, Chopin, Lipinski, Paderewski, Kreisler, Zar?bski, Zarzicki, Szymanowski, Rimsky-Korsakov & Rachmaninoff
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Krzysztof Jakowicz (violin) Robert Morawski (piano)Composer: Wieniawski, Chopin, Lipinski, Paderewski, Kreisler, Zar?bski, Zarzicki, Szymanowski, Rimsky-Korsakov & Rachmaninoff This CD enshrines an hour of deliciously old-fashioned violin playing by the Nestor of Polish violinists, Krzysztof Jakowicz (b.1939). In a recording that closely and ...
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ArticleThe Music of Eddie South
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Violinjazz, Harold Jones (percussion), Andrea Liguori (piano)Composer: Eddie South This tribute to American jazz violinist Eddie South (1904–62), by West Coast musician Jeremy Cohen, is no cloning job but a successful disc in its own right. From the opening fanfare to Black ...
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ArticleTristan und Isolde. Wagner: Transcriptions and paraphrases
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hisaya Sato (violin) Toshiyuki Takeuchi (piano)Composer: Wagner Thirty-eight-year-old Japanese violinist Hisaya Sato is to be commended on his ambition to revive long-forgotten repertoire and the launch of his own record label to promote it – all but three of ...
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ArticleMiller: Walk
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Kristen Miller (cello, vocals)Composer: MillerKristen Miller is a folk–rock cellist/singer–songwriter who, with the help of a digital recorder, creates layered songs in real time. Walk is, in spirit, more folk than rock – acoustic and communicating an at times sepia-tinged introspection. But, ...
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ArticleWhite Nights
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Chris Stout (fiddle) Catriona McKay (Scottish harp)Composer: Various These longtime Fiddlers’ Bid bandmates improve upon their previous duo outing, 2005’s excellent Laebrack, with an album that’s both more adventurous and more refined. The mesmeric opening lament sets a formidable standard ...
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ArticleScott: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 3, Sonata melodica
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Clare Howick (violin) Sophia Rahman (piano)Composer: ScottOften referred to as the ‘English Debussy’, Cyril Scott was (unusually for a British composer) a master of liquid piano sonorities. His music’s chromatically-intensified exoticism is reminiscent at times of Scriabin, but without the attendant hysteria, ...
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ArticleKorngold: String Quartets nos.1–3, Piano Quintet op.15
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Aron Quartet, Henri Sigfridsson (piano) Composer: Korngold The Vienna-based Aron Quartet has put the musical legacy of its home city at the heart of its work, extending beyond the obvious Classics and Second Viennese School to lesser-known areas of ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: Piano Trio no.1 in D minor op.49. Schubert: Piano Trio no.2 in E flat major D929
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Smetana TrioComposer: Mendelssohn, Schubert After focusing largely on recording the Czech piano trio literature, the Smetana Trio celebrates the tenth anniversary of its new incarnation by turning to more staple Romantic fare. Its members perform the restless opening movement ...
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ArticleMiaskovsky: String Quartets no.1 in A minor op.33 & no.13 in A minor op.86
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Renoir QuartetComposer: Miaskovsky Now that the Taneyev Quartet’s trailblazing series of all 13 Miaskovsky string quartets is available on Northern Flowers, collectors can at last gain a sense of this remarkable composer’s achievement, second only to Shostakovich in Soviet Russia. ...
