All Reviews articles – Page 193
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Concertos no.1 op.35 & no.2 op.61*. Britten: Violin Concerto op.15†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit*, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck† Composer: Szymanowski, BrittenAn unusual coupling of composers, but who cares when between them they produced three of the most seductive violin concertos of the 20th century? Frank Peter Zimmermann ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quintets no.1 in D minor op.89 & no.2 in C minor
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano) Composer: FauréIn Fauré there is no substitute for experience and these five veterans show all their modern rivals the way home. Throughout these difficult but rewarding works from the composer’s late period, the playing has the ...
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ArticleGould: String Quartet op.1. E. MacMillan: String Quartet in C minor, Two Sketches Based on French Canadian Airs
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alcan QuartetComposer: Gould, E. MacMillanBoth composers here are better remembered as Canadian performers of the front rank: the Scottish-born Ernest MacMillan (1893–1973) conducted at Glenn Gould’s first major outings on the concert platform. The two quartets on this disc marry up admirably, ...
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ArticleL. Weiner: Violin Sonatas no.1 in D major op.9 & no.2 in F sharp minor op.11, Pereg Recruiting Dance, Wedding Dance, Three Hungarian Folk Dances, Twenty Easy Little Pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano) Composer: L. WeinerCompared to the other great composers – Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi – who taught at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, early in the last century, Leó Weiner (1885–1960) is largely neglected. His violin sonatas, from ...
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ArticleQuartetto con Forza. Gothe: String Quartet ‘Visioni ed estasi’. Hillborg: Kongsgaard Variations. Mårtensson: String Quartet no.1 ‘Sediments of Discourse’. Pelo: Up, Down Charm, Strange
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: Gothe, Hillborg, Mårtensson, Pelo This disc brings together string quartets composed within the last five years by four leading Swedish composers, three of whom use the medium to produce sounds rather than conventional thematic material. The exception comes in Anders ...
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ArticleBacewicz: Violin Concertos nos.1, 3 & 7, Overture
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Joanna Kurkowicz (violin) Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Lukasz Borowicz Composer: BacewiczGraz?yna Bacewicz’s centenary this year has remained largely ignored outside Poland, a state of affairs that Joanna Kurkowicz has been determined to rectify by bringing her dedicated and persuasive championing of these concertos ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Gulda: String Quartet in F sharp minor. Puccini: Crisantemi
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Acies QuartetComposer: Debussy, Gulda, PucciniThe Acies Quartet from Carinthia is a brilliant young Austrian ensemble of whom one hopes to hear a great deal in the future. Its Debussy is all one could wish for: never self-indulgent, but Classically restrained, with attractive ...
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ArticleSay: Violin Concerto ‘1001 Nights in the Harem’, Alla Turca Jazz, Patara Ballet, Summertime Variations
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Fazil Say (piano) Burcu Soysev (soprano) Aykut Kösselerli (percussion) Celalettin Biçer (ney flute) Lucerne Symphony Orchestra/John Axelrod Composer: SayHaving formed a performing duo with Patricia Kopatchinskaja in 2006, gifted pianist–composer Fazil Say composed this violin concerto ...
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ArticleBritten: String Quartet no.2 in C major op.36. Mozart: Piano Quartet in E flat major K493
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Amadeus Quartet, Benjamin Britten (piano) Composer: Britten, MozartThis is one of the first in a new series of recordings, only available as downloads, drawn from the archives of Music Preserved. Most of them were recorded live from the radio more than ...
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ArticleLiszt: Works for Violin and Piano: Première élégie, Zweite Elegie, Die drei Zigeuner – Paraphrase, Romance oubliée, La lugubre gondola, Grand duo concertant, Epithalam, Benedictus, Offertorium
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Friedemann Eichhorn (violin) Rolf-Dieter Arens (piano)Composer: LisztThis disc is impressive not only for its sensitive performances by Weimar-based Friedemann Eichorn and Rolf-Dieter Arens, but also for revealing the scope, originality and depth of Liszt’s music. From today’s perspective, it is easy to ...
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ArticleWalton: Cello Concerto, Façade*
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gregor Piatigorsky (cello) Joan Cross*, Peter Pears* (reciters) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Malcolm Sargent, English Opera Group Orchestra/Paul Sacher*Composer: Walton This release of the European premiere of Walton’s Cello Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall on 13 February 1957 has been ...
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ArticleOliver/Varner: Jomo
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mary Oliver (violin/viola) Johanna Varner (cello)Composer: Oliver/Varner This album, composed entirely by Mary Oliver and Johanna Varner, takes us on a journey through the night via a series of atmospheric, semi-improvised atonal vignettes.The opening Bedtime Story sets the tone, ...
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ArticleXenakis: Complete string quartets: Tetras, Tetora, ST-4, Ergma
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jack Quartet Composer: Xenakis The prospect of hearing Xenakis’s complete string quartets in one sitting might sound somewhat indigestible. But this is music of strange and passionate pleasure, and each work is compellingly, sense-assailingly different. The composer’s genius as an ...
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Articlel’improviste
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre (double bass)Composer: VariousAn album of free improv double bass duets is never going to be for the faint-hearted. Tuneful this ain’t (well, for the most part), but Barre Phillips and Joëlle Léandre are past masters in this genre ...
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ArticleHaydn: Cello Concertos no.1 in C major & no.2 in D major. Zumsteeg: Cello Concerto in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sebastian Comberti (cello/director) Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentComposer: Haydn, ZumsteegThe intensive quest to locate an 18th-century concerto that will enrich the cello’s repertoire continues. Does this work by Stuttgart cellist Johann Zumsteeg (1760–1802) fit the bill? He undoubtedly offers pleasant operatically ...
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ArticleRachmaninoff: Romance in A minor, String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Morceaux de salon op.6, Vocalise (arr. Press), Two Sacred Songs. Mussorgsky: Hopak (arr. Rachmaninoff)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Dene Olding (violin), Goldner Quartet, Joan Rodgers (soprano), Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) Composer: Rachmaninoff, MussorgskyBeyond the Cello Sonata of 1901, Rachmaninoff is hardly remembered for his chamber music. Here, though, is a collection bringing together some of the music he ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonatas in F major op.5 no.1, G minor op.5 no.2 & A major op.69
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Friedrich Kleinhapl (cello) Andreas Woyke (piano)Composer: BeethovenI would hope this is the first in a pair of discs containing Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, for it would find a place among the most interesting in the catalogue. By opting for ...
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ArticleMozart: Complete Sonatas for keyboard & violin vols.7 & 8: Sonatas K10–15 & K26, Allegro in B flat major K372, 12 Variations in G major K374a, 6 Variations in G minor K374b, Fantasia in C minor K396
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Rachel Podger (violin) Gary Cooper (fortepiano/harpsichord) Alison McGillivray (cello)Composer: Mozart This set of two discs, neither of which includes any real blockbusters, completes Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper’s outstanding Mozart project. As with previous issues, these players convey the sensibility ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets in C sharp minor op.131 & F major op.135
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: BeethovenFrom one of the growing number of performer record labels, the American-based Cypress Quartet makes a most auspicious opening to its planned series of Beethoven’s late quartets. The players began their journey towards this cycle since they first began working ...
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ArticleSchubert: String Quartets in B flat major op.posth.168 & D minor D810 (Death and the Maiden), Quartettsatz in C minor D703
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Voce Quartet Composer: SchubertThe Voce Quartet has a better reason than most to choose Schubert for its debut recording, since as well as coming second in the recent London International Quartet Competition it also walked away with three ...
