All Reviews articles – Page 190
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas vol.2: Sonatas in A minor op.23 & F major (Spring) op.24, Twelve Variations on ‘Se vuol ballare’ WoO40, Six German Dances WoO42
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Hiro Kurosaki (violin) Linda Nicholson (fortepiano)Composer: Beethoven Period instruments are rarely as precise as the Franz Geissenhof instrument Hiro Kurosaki uses on this recording: it was made in 1801, the year these sonatas were published, and in Vienna, the city ...
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ArticleAdès: Violin Concerto ‘Concentric Paths’ op.24*, Tevot† , Three Studies from Couperin*, Overture, Waltz & Finale from ‘Powder her Face’‡
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Description: Selection disc 1: Musicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Thomas Adès*, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle† , National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Paul Daniel‡Composer: AdèsOne of the challenges facing composers over the last century or so ...
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ArticleKodály: Sonata for solo cello op.8. Roxburgh: Partita for solo cello. Britten: Suite no.3 for solo cello op.87
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: James Barralet (cello) Composer: Kodály, Roxburgh, BrittenIn 2007 British cellist James Barralet won the Landor Records Competition; this debut disc is the result. Kodály’s Sonata opens it in arresting fashion. Barralet, who studied with Demenga at the Musikhochschule Basel, plays with energy ...
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ArticleOnslow: Piano Quintet op.70, Quintet ‘de la Balle’ op.38
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Ensemble Monsolo, François-Joël Thiollier (piano) Composer: OnslowMany of Onslow’s 34 string quintets allow for an instrumentarium of flexible constitution. Ensemble Monsolo performs his semi-programmatic op.38, subtitled ‘The Bullet’, in the version for string quartet and double bass. These players convey the drama ...
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ArticleFantasy. Messiaen: La mort du nombre, Thème et variations, Fantaisie. Schoenberg: Phantasy op.47. Schubert: Fantasie D934, Si emir gegrüsst! D741
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Kaori Yamada (violin) Sholto Kynoch (piano) Rhona McKail (soprano) Nicky Spence (tenor)Composer: Messiaen, Schoenberg, Schubert Based around the idea of musical fantasy, this ingenious programme offsets the music of one of France’s most inspired and overtly sensual ‘fantasists’ against the heightened ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Nikolaj Znaider (violin) Staatskapelle Dresden/Colin Davis Composer: ElgarThere is a certain pedigree to this recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Nikolaj Znaider plays the Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ instrument of 1741 on which Kreisler, the work’s dedicatee, gave ...
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ArticleStrings and Isobars. Waxman: Carmen Fantasy. MacMillan: After the Tryst, Knock on Wood. Copland: Violin Sonata. Russell Bennett: A Song Sonata. Bolcom: Sonatina
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Yuko Uchiyama (violin) Dina Vainshtein (piano)Composer: Waxman, MacMillan, Copland, Russell Bennett, BolcomThis disc’s label – University of Hertfordshire Recordings – didn’t initially promise much, so I was very pleasantly surprised by its content. Yuko Uchiyama, soloist and also a member of the ...
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ArticlePágina Esquecida. Portuguese music for cello and piano: works by Lopes-Graça, Almeida, Fernandes, Freitas, Braga Santos, Branco, Peixinho, Costa & Carneyro
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Bruno Borralhinho (cello) Luisa Tender (piano)Composer: Lopes-Graça, Almeida, Fernandes, Freitas, Braga Santos, Branco, Peixinho, Costa & CarneyroThis compilation’s title, ‘Forgotten Page’, refers here to Portuguese cello music of the last century, but could just as well be used for Portuguese music as ...
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ArticleL’Art du Violon Seul dans L’Allemagne Baroque. Works by Bach, Biber, Pisendel & Westhoff
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Mira Glodeanu (Baroque violin)Composer: Bach, Biber, Pisendel & Westhoff There is a remarkable intimacy and adventurousness about Mira Glodeanu’s account of Bach’s First Sonata (BWV1001). She possesses a clean, substantially accurate left-hand technique and largely conveys voice-leading clearly and intelligently. Particularly ...
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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 ...
