All Reviews articles – Page 189
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quintets in E flat major op.4 & C major op.29, Fugue in D major op.137, Prelude and Fugue Fragment in D minor H40
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Endellion Quartet, David Adams (viola)Composer: BeethovenThese performances have been somewhat closely but?well caught by the engineers, and they demonstrate technical assurance, rhythmic drive and elegant shaping of the phrase alongside exemplary balance and blend. The players often bring orchestral sonorities to the ...
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ArticleVirtuoso Double Bass Vol.2. Bottesini: Operatic fantasies & arrangements of arias etc
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Leon Bosch (double bass) Sung-Suk Kang (piano)Composer: Bottesini Leon Bosch demonstrates a natural affinity with?Bottesini’s bravura style. His performances combine sonorous, lyrical,?exquisitely nuanced playing with?a?remarkable command of the instrument’s?bravura potential.Bosch interprets four of Bottesini’s opera fantasias with drama, poetry ...
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ArticleDohnányi: Violin Sonata in C sharp minor op.21, Ruralia hungarica op.32c, Romanza (arr. Heifetz) Janácek: Violin Sonata, Dumka, Romance, Allegro, Lístek odvanutý (arr. Š tedron)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano)Composer: Dohnányi, Janácek (arr. Š t?dro?)Hagai Shaham gives a?deliciously rich and eloquent account of Dohnányi’s Violin Sonata, positively old-fashioned in?its generous vibrato and abundance of portamentos. He is adept at combining broad-spanned lyricism with narrative drama, driving ...
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ArticleCage: Six Melodies for Violin and Keyboard, Two4, Nocturne, Two6
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Andreas Seidel (violin) ?Steffen Schleiermacher (piano)Composer: CageDespite his prolific output, there’s little music by John Cage for violin and piano – perhaps, as pianist Steffen Schleiermacher suggests in his informative booklet notes, the composer was put off by the duo’s associations with ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61, Prelude to The Kingdom op.51, Prelude? & ?Angel’s Farewell from The?Dream of?Gerontius
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Thomas Zehetmair (violin) Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano) Hallé/Mark ElderComposer: Elgar ‘It’s good! Awfully emotional! Too emotional… but I love it,’ enthused Elgar about his?Violin Concerto. Delius,?not one of Elgar’s greatest admirers at the best of times, dryly commented: ‘I?found it a bit ...
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ArticleClimbing the Skies. Vaughan Williams: Phantasy Quintet. Watkins: Sad Steps. Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor op.84
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Aronowitz EnsembleComposer: Vaughan Williams, Watkins, ElgarFor its debut disc, the enterprising Aronowitz Ensemble brings together three British works inspired by ‘nostalgia and a longing for reinvention’, but the result is neither indulgent nor gloomy. Far from it: Vaughan Williams’s Phantasy Quintet for ...
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ArticleFor David and Wu Han. Jalbert: Cello Sonata. Auerbach: Cello?Sonata. Adolphe: Couple. Tsontakis: Mirror Image
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: David Finckel (cello) Wu Han (piano)Composer: Jalbert, Auerbach, Adolphe, TsontakisFollowing in the tradition of his teacher Rostropovich, David Finckel and his?wife Wu Han have?over the years commissioned a?number of established composers to enrich the repertoire for cello and piano, the ...
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ArticleStravinsky: Suite d’après des thèmes, fragments et morceaux de Giambattista Pergolesi, Pastorale, Airs du rossignol et Marche chinoise, Prélude et Ronde des princesses, Chanson russe, Divertimento, Da
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) ?Thomas? Adès (piano)Composer: StravinskyStravinsky’s ‘complete’ music for violin and piano consists of one original piece, his Duo concertant of 1932, and a set of arrangements taken mostly from his own oeuvre. The title here is slightly misleading, as Stravinsky ...
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ArticleBarber: Violin Concerto. Bernstein: Serenade. Bloch: Baal Shem
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin) SÁo Paulo Symphony Orchestra/John NeschlingComposer: Barber, Bernstein, BlochBarber’s Violin Concerto is a notoriously difficult work to bring off convincingly. The Walton-like nostalgia of the first two movements is counterbalanced by a?finale whose hurtling forward momentum feels slightly ...
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ArticlePeacocks/Pink Monsters
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Judgement Day: Anton Patzner (violin) Lewis Patzner (cello) John Bush (drums)Composer: Various Don’t be beguiled by the artsy cardboard-picture-book CD case: there’s nothing wholemeal here. This is thrashy, high-voltage ‘string metal’, music feasting on E-numbers and electricity with a result ...
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ArticleStrewn With Ribbons
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Lauren MacColl (fiddle) Chris Stout (viola) Su-a Lee (cello) Barry Reid (guitar) Mhairi Hall (piano) Composer: VariousInstrumentalist of the year at the 2009 Scots Trad Music Awards, Lauren MacColl has turned out a?remarkably assured second album. The title comes from a prophecy ...
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ArticleRuehr: String Quartets nos.1, 3 & 4
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: Ruehr It’s a brave move by the San Francisco-based Cypress Quartet to devote its new disc entirely to a contemporary composer, and a little-known name at that. But the music of Elena Ruehr, raised in Michigan and ...
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ArticleScott: Piano Trios nos.1 & 2, Clarinet Quintet, Clarinet Trio, Cornish Boat Song
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Gould Piano Trio, Mia Cooper (violin) David Adams (viola) Robert Plane (clarinet) Composer: ScottThe fact that Cyril Scott (1879–1970) was musically educated in Germany from the age of twelve, and there enjoyed his first success as a major composer, did much to ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence op.70 (transcr. Turovsky), String Quartet no.1 in D op.11 (arr. string orchestra)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: I Musici de Montréal/Yuli Turovsky Composer: TchaikovskyThe tantalisingly balance between Tchaikovsky’s natural propensity for music fired by extra-musical sources and his veneration of the absolute music of the Viennese Classical masters (exemplified by his life-long admiration of Mozart) is everywhere evident here. ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quintets no.1 in D minor op. 89 & no.2 in C minor op.115
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Schubert EnsembleComposer: FauréWilliam Howard’s piano opening of Fauré’s First Piano Quintet conjures up water rippling through stones, and it is that fresh and open-air atmosphere that permeates the whole of this performance. It has often been said that the work does not ...
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ArticleFirst Steps. Bruckner: Rondo in C minor. Britten: String Quartet in F major. Puccini: String Quartet in D major. Grieg: Fugue in F minor. Rachmaninoff: String Quartet no.1. Webern: Langsamer Satz. Sch
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ruysdael QuartetComposer: Bruckner, Britten, Puccini, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Webern, SchoenbergUnder the album title ‘First Steps’, the Ruysdael Quartet has created a programme of apprentice pieces to create a quite delightful release. Many of the composers did not continue writing in this genre, but ...
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ArticleHartmann: String Quartets no.1 (Carillon) & no.2, Little Concerto for string quartet and percussion, Chamber Concerto for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra; plus interviews
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Doelen Quartet, Arjan Woudenberg (clarinet) Wilbert Grootenboer (percussion) Sinfonia Rotterdam/Conrad van AlphenComposer: HartmannString enthusiasts are most likely to know Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–63) for his Concerto funèbre (1939) for violin and strings, a key work of the Munich-based composer’s self-imposed internal exile ...
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ArticleLe Maître et L’Élève. Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor. Offenbach: Duo Lettre F: Suite no.1 in G minor for two cellos. Popper: Virtuoso pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Raphaël Pidoux, Bruno Philippe (cellos) Elodie Soulard (accordion)Composer: Bach, Offenbach, PopperAs the title suggests, two young players each accompany Raphaël Pidoux, in keeping with the pedagogical concept behind the Offenbach Suite. Bruno Philippe is the partner in this work, the last in ...
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ArticleProkofiev: String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Sonata for two violins op.56
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Pavel Haas QuartetComposer: Prokofiev Considering their high quality, it is surprising how relatively few couplings of Prokofiev’s two string quartets have emerged on disc. If neo-Classical precision is a priority the Emerson Quartet (available as a download ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in B flat major op.130, Grosse Fuge in B flat major op.133
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Vertavo QuartetComposer: BeethovenThe all-female Vertavo Quartet from Norway has gained a reputation among the most versatile of ensembles. Its members celebrate their 25th year together with, surprisingly, their very first Beethoven recording.The impact of their playing is very positive: expressive, spontaneous and ...
