All Reviews articles – Page 188
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ArticleBach: Cello Suites (complete)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Joseph Elworthy (cello)Composer: Bach Casals used to allude to the ever-changing face of the Bach suites, making the idea of committing one single view of these works to a recording a somewhat daunting process. Canadian cellist Joseph Elworthy, however, presents ...
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ArticleConversations for violin and piano. Rosing-Schow: E Rigidis. Nørgård: Fragment V, Diptychon. Ruders: Three Tiny Pieces for Great Friends, Bel Canto. Nordentoft: Two Movements. Koppel: Ternio
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider (violin) Ulrich Staerk (piano)Composer: Rosing-Schow, Nørgård, Ruders, Nordentoft, KoppelElisabeth Zeuthen Schneider presents an interesting trawl of works from Danish composers after the Second World War, including some earlyish Per Nørgård and recent pieces by Poul Ruders.I found the order ...
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ArticleRebel: Les éléments. Vivaldi: Le quattro stagione
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Midori Seiler (violin) Akademie für Alte Musik BerlinComposer: Rebel, VivaldiIt is fashionable now to emphasise the pictorial elements of The Four Seasons, which is fair enough up to a point: Vivaldi is quite clear about the chattering teeth and hailstorms. But these ...
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ArticleLang: Lyoba Revisited
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Daniel Pezzotti, Andi Plattner, Daniel Schaerer, Ambrosius Huber (cellos) Heiri Känzig (double bass) Mathieu Michel (flugelhorn) Thierry Lang (piano) Composer: LangThierry Lang’s ‘chamber jazz’ reinterpretations of melodies from his native western Switzerland combine cello quartet and jazz trio. While the framework ...
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ArticleReal Vocal String Quartet
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Real Vocal String QuartetComposer: VariousRVSQ presents originals and arrangements from various world folk traditions, its four members combining string playing and singing in an imaginative and charming way.Right from the opening moments, the articulation of the violin pizzicato and viola tune transport ...
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ArticleSibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor op.47, Humoresques nos.1, 2 & 5. Prokofiev: Violin Concerto no.1 in D major op.19
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Vilde Frang (violin) WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne/Thomas SøndergŠrdComposer: Sibelius,Prokofiev Even bearing in mind such timeless accounts of the Sibelius as those by Jascha Heifetz (RCA), Isaac Stern (Sony) and Christian Ferras (EMI DVD), Vilde Frang is just that extra ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quartets no.1 in C minor op.15 & no.2 in G minor op.55
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Trio Wanderer, Antoine Tamestit (viola)Composer: FauréThe very word ‘Wanderer’ exudes German Romanticism and would lead one to expect the trio’s members to be most at home in Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann (which of course they are). On the present CD, ...
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ArticleGade: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hasse Borup (violin), Heather Conner (piano)Composer: GadeViolinist Hasse Borup follows hot on the heels of Thomas Albertus Imberger (Gramola, reviewed in January) with a survey of sonatas by Niels Wilhelm Gade. The Danish composer succeeded Mendelssohn as music director of the Leipzig ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartet in G major op.77 no.1, Dvorák: String Quartet in G major op.106
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: St Lawrence QuartetComposer: Haydn, Dvorák Two magnificent late quartets in G major by two great composers raise the expectations; but sadly, a lot of water has flowed down the St Lawrence since the eponymous ensemble began its career, and I fear a ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in A major op.9 no.6. D major op.50 no.6 & C major op.74 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Schuppanzigh QuartetComposer: HaydnThis stimulating first volume of the Schuppanzigh Quartet’s projected three-part Haydn anthology showcases period-instrument chamber playing of the highest calibre. With Anton Steck at the helm, these performers communicate directly and powerfully and imbue their interpretations with imaginative phrasing, subtly ...
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ArticleLigeti: String Quartets no.1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ & no.2, Andante and Allegretto
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Parker QuartetComposer: LigetiThis enterprising disc brings together Ligeti’s complete music for string quartet in committed performances by the young players of the Parker Quartet, New England Conservatory-trained and currently ensemble in residence with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.The First Quartet (1953–4), while ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Ravel: String Quartet in F major, Violin Sonata in G major
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Dante Quartet, Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano)Composer: Debussy, RavelString playing changed radically in the decade between the Debussy and Ravel quartets and the Dante Quartet is unusual in perceiving the difference. What a shame that the recordings, by a team new ...
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ArticleKrenek: Symphonic Elegy op.105, Seven Easy Pieces op.146, Adagio and Fugue, Five Short Pieces for Strings op.116, Symphonic Piece op.86, Brazilian Sinfonietta op.131
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ernst Kovacic, Leopoldinum OrchestraComposer: KrenekErnst Krenek (1900–91) was one of the most prolific composers of the last century, with opus numbers stretching well into the 200s. He is best known for his jazzy opera Johnny spielt auf, but elsewhere his music is ...
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ArticleRachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19 (transcr. Mikhailovsky), Romance in A minor op.posth., miniatures transcr. Mikhailovsky, Kreisler, Heifetz, Press & Dushkin
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hideko Udagawa (violin), Konstantin Lifschitz (piano)Composer: RachmaninoffViolinist Hideko Udagawa brings together a fine clutch of Rachmaninoff transcriptions – by Heifetz and Kreisler, among others – as well as the composer’s original Romance in A minor. Viktor Mikhailovsky’s new transcription of ...
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ArticleStillness: Improvisations 2008
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Sixth Sense: Stephen Nachmanovitch (violin), Stephanie Phillips (viola, voice), Karlton Hester (flute, saxophone, synthesizer)Composer: VariousCollective improv trio Sixth Sense may be an occasional ensemble, but the players’ mutual understanding is finely tuned, resulting in an expressive spontaneity that survives the odd longueur.Most ...
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ArticleRode: 24 Caprices for solo violin
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Axel Strauss (violin)Composer: RodePaganini’s Caprices have long been seen as concert pieces, but Pierre Rode’s earlier set is still best known today as study material. This is not entirely fair. Admittedly, some of Rode’s pieces – such as no.14 with its emotional ...
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ArticleHill: String Quartets vol.3: no.5 in E flat major (‘The Allies’), no.7 in A major & no.9 in A minor
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Dominion QuartetComposer: HillThis disc marks roughly the halfway point in Naxos’s ambitious project to record all 17 quartets by the prolific Australian composer Alfred Hill (1869–1960), who spent his formative years in New Zealand. It features three works composed between 1920 and ...
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ArticleJohann, I’m Only Dancing. Bach: Arrangements of Brandenburg Concerto no.3, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, etc
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Red PriestComposer: BachWith its highly personalised style of stage presentation, Red Priest aims to introduce the Baroque to audiences that would normally dismiss ‘old-fashioned’ music. Such commercialisation has polarised opinions, and this disc, devoted to the music of Bach, will ...
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ArticleBartók: 44 Duos for two violins
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Angela Chun, Jennifer Chun (violin)Composer: BartókConsidering the dazzling range of techniques and effects unleashed by Bartók elsewhere in his violin writing, the 44 Duos remain steadfastly true to their intentions as elementary teaching material. Pizzicato is employed sparingly, while double-stopping ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: Piano Trios in D minor op.49 & C minor op.66
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Trio Jean PaulComposer: MendelssohnThese excellent West German Radio recordings, by an established German group, come very close to the truth of Mendelssohn’s trios as I understand it. Unlike the performances by the Eggner Trio from Austria, which I reviewed last month, they ...
