All Reviews articles – Page 183
-
ArticleTovey: Air and Variations in B flat op.11, String Quartet in G major op.23
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Tippett QuartetComposer: ToveyThe concerted effort by several labels to record Donald Francis Tovey’s oeuvre has at last turned up a masterpiece. The Air and Variations is a major work, lasting just over half an hour, which holds the attention with fertile invention ...
-
ArticleLachenmann: Gran torso, String Quartet no.2 ‘Reigen seliger Geister’, String Quartet no.3 ‘Grido’
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Stadler Quartet Composer: LachenmannThis highly impressive new disc from Salzburg-based contemporary music specialists the Stadler Quartet serves as an exemplary overview of senior German composer Helmut Lachenmann’s demanding works for string quartet, and also charts something of a relaxing of ...
-
ArticleLazzari: Violin Sonata in E major op.24, Scherzo in G sharp minor. Andreae: Violin Sonata in D major op.4
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ilona Then-Bergh (violin) Michael Schäfer (piano)Composer: Lazzari, AndreaeIt is always welcome to see artists, particularly of the quality of Ilona Then-Bergh and Michael Schäfer (both of whom are professors at the Munich Hochschule für Musik), championing works that have eluded the so-called ...
-
ArticleSibelius: Piano Quintet in G minor, String Quartet in D minor ‘Voces intimae’ op.56
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Coull Quartet, MartinuRoscoe (piano)Composer: Sibelius The Coull Quartet, now in its fourth decade, turns to Sibelius for the first time in its extensive discography. A burgeoning symphonist can already be sensed in the epic opening of the early Piano Quintet (1890). In ...
-
ArticleFrench Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Debussy: Violin Sonata, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (arr. Hartmann). Lili Boulanger: Nocturne. Ravel: Violin Sonata. Poulenc: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Lin He (violin) Gregory Sioles (piano) Composer: Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Ravel, PoulencThis is an attractive programme, with Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne an extra miniature treat. Lin He brings many fine touches to the Debussy Sonata, showing a nice line in whispered intimacy and ...
-
ArticleSenza continuo. Sainte-Colombe: Trois Préludes in D minor. Le Sieur de Machy: Suite in G major. Virgiliano: Ricercate for viola bastardo. Bassano: Ricertata quarta. Hume: The First Booke of Ayres (exc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Margaret Little (viola da gamba)Composer: Sainte-Colombe, Le Sieur de Machy, Virgiliano, Bassano, Hume, MaraisMargaret Little showcases the bass viol’s rich sound world in a solo programme of French, Italian and English music from the Renaissance and early Baroque. She demonstrates total command ...
-
ArticleBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor op.38 & no.2 in F major op.99, Violin Sonata no.1 in G major (arr. Klengel)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Torleif Thedéen (cello) Roland Pöntinen (piano)Composer: Brahms Ten years on from recording their Schumann and Chopin disc, Swedish partnership Torleif Thedéen and Roland Pöntinen at last give us some Brahms. This is repertoire ideally suited to the pair. ...
-
ArticleBritten: Cello Symphony, Cello Suite no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Flanders Symphony Orchestra/Seikyo KimComposer: BrittenBritten’s Cello Symphony makes a timely addition to the suites and Solo Sonata already committed to disc by Wispelwey. Although in the booklet he writes of it as a concerto, his interpretation suggests the subtle ...
-
ArticleCage: Etudes boreales for a percussionist using a piano, Harmonies XIII, XXII, XXIV, XXVII, 10'40.3' for a string player from 26’1.1499’’, Etudes boreales for cello solo and piano solo
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Friedrich Gauwerky (cello)Composer: Cage The German cellist and new music specialist Friedrich Gauwerky succeeds here in bringing coherence and structure to two of the most challenging works of 20th-century cello literature, John Cage’s Etudes boreales (1978) and 26’1.1499” (1953–5) (of which ...
-
ArticleMetamorphosis. Bartók: String Quartet no.4. Ligeti: String Quartet no.1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’. Kurtág: 12 Microludes op.13
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Casals Quartet Composer: Bartók, Ligeti, KurtágA thought-provoking programme presents Hungarian composers of two generations with much in common: an uncanny ear for string sonority, a tendency towards introversion and a capacity for civilised barbarity. Ligeti and Kurtág show Bartók’s ...
-
ArticleVolupté. Koechlin: Viola Sonata op.53, Quatre petites pièces. Jongen: Concertino for viola and piano op.111, Introduction et danse op.102, Andante espressivo, Allegro appassionato op.79
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Roger Benedict (viola) Ben Jacks (horn) Timothy Young (piano)Composer: Koechlin, Jongen Voluptuous indeed are the sounds embedded in this recording of music from the fin de siècle (in spirit if not always in date of composition). The main work ...
-
ArticleSaint-Saëns: Violin Concerto no.3 in B minor op.61, Introduction & Rondo capriccioso. Chausson: Poème op.25. Ysaÿe: Poème élégiaque in D minor op.12
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Tedi Papavrami (violin) Liège Philharmonic Orchestra/François-Xavier RothComposer: Saint-Saëns, Chausson, Ysaÿe Tedi Papavrami has two immediate advantages here: he possesses a sound of ravishing purity and he is an out-and-out sensualist who plays these glorious scores with affectionate warmth. Even bearing ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: Violin Sonatas in E flat major op.12 no.3 & A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Viktoria Mullova (violin) Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)Composer: Beethoven Despite my respect for Viktoria Mullova, which has led me to listen to this disc some half-dozen times, I am left with a feeling of frustration. Phrase after phrase from the violinist ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in B flat major op.130, Grosse Fuge op.133
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: Beethoven The Cypress Quartet’s second volume in its series of Beethoven’s late quartets features op.130 and includes both the Grosse Fuge and the composer’s alternative finale. These perceptive interpretations are rigorous and intuitively formed, strong without being overstated, ...
-
ArticleDvorák: Cello Concerto in A major ‘Youth’, Waldesruhe, Rondo op.94, Polonaise
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ramon Jaffé (cello) Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra/Daniel RaiskinComposer: Dvorák Given the quality of the famous B minor Concerto, who couldn’t but hope that Dvo?ák had written an earlier masterpiece for cello and orchestra? The 1865 A major Concerto, however, ...
-
ArticleElgar: Cello Concerto, Sospiri, Salut d’Amour, La capricieuse. Dvorák: Waldesruhe, Rondo op.94. Respighi: Andante con variazioni. Vasks: The Book
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Mario VenzagoComposer: Elgar, Dvorák ,Respighi, VasksIn every regard this is an outstanding CD. The recording quality is impressively clear yet warm, the orchestral playing well-honed and incisive, and the repertoire extremely varied. Sol Gabetta shines at ...
-
ArticleAcoustic Voyage
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Tim Kliphuis (violin) Nigel Clark (guitar) Roy Percy (double bass) David Newton (piano) Sandro Ciancio (percussion)Composer: VariousTim Kliphuis adds piano and percussion to his regular trio for this journey through combinations of Manouche jazz, Scottish folk and Brazilian music. Kliphuis ...
-
ArticleBull: Nocturne, The Herdgirl’s Sunday, A Mountain Vision, Adagio religioso, Polacca guerriera, Adagio sostenuto, Grand March from Agiaco cubano, Cantabile doloroso e Rondo giocoso, La mélancholie, And
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Arve Tellefsen (violin) HŠvard Gimse (piano) Trondheim Symphony Orchestra/Eivind AadlandComposer: BullThat violin giant Ole Bornemann Bull undertook some composition is not unexpected. His music is largely forgotten today and, without being unduly unkind, this is understandable. These compositions are perfectly pleasant (as ...
-
ArticleBrahms: Complete Violin Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Jack Liebeck (violin) Katya Apekisheva (piano)Composer: BrahmsIn this fine set Jack Liebeck approaches Brahms with true Romantic fervour. His tone is sweet and effortlessly expressive, his lyrical spans marked by many a tastefully judged portamento. The G major Sonata no.1 ...
-
ArticleMendelssohn: String Quartets in D major op.44 no.1 & E flat major op.‘0’, Tema con variazioni op.81 no.1, Scherzo op.81 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: New Zealand Quartet Composer: MendelssohnIn their third and final volume of Mendelssohn’s music for string quartet, the New Zealand musicians continue their deeply considered and very serious approach, underlining the drama in the opening movement of the D major Quartet by ...
