All Reviews articles – Page 193
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ArticleTansman: Cello Sonata no.2, Two Pieces, Fantaisie, Partita, Quatre pieces faciles
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Cracow Duo: Jan Kalinowski (cello) Marck Szlezer (piano)Composer: TansmanProlific Polish-turned-French composer Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986) has found ambassadors in the vibrant young Cracow Duo and Polish record label Dux. Tansman, whose glittering career centred on Paris, wrote his Second Cello Sonata (1930) soon ...
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ArticleRhapsodic Musings: 21st Century Works for Solo Violin. Salonen: Lachen verlernt. Carter: Four Lauds. Read Thomas: Pulsar. Zorn: Goetia
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Jennifer Koh (violin)Composer: Salonen, Carter, Read Thomas, ZornWhen this disc is loaded into a computer, a menu pops up with links to relevant websites, and the option of viewing a video interpretation of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Lachen verlent, made by artist and filmmaker ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in C major K296, E minor K304, A major K305 & D major K306
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Duo Amadé: Catherine Mackintosh (violin) Geoffrey Govier (fortepiano)Composer: MozartViolinist Catherine Mackintosh has a balance problem. Not that I expect her to fall over any moment, but in her Bach sonatas she was too forward, edging out harpsichordist Maggie Cole, and here her ...
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Article3 Fervent Travelers
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Time for Three: Zach De Pue, Nick Kendall (violin) Ranaan Meyer (double bass)Composer: VariousThis is Time for Three’s third album, but its first major commercial one, combining live and studio recordings. It is an assured blend of popular American styles within original ...
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ArticleSchumann: String Quartet in A major op.41 no.3, Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Takács Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin (piano)Composer: Schumann As is to be expected, the Takács Quartet provides a sumptuous disc here. In places, however, this lush sound can result in a vibrato that is too wide and slow, especially in the descending fifth ...
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ArticleTippett: String Quartets nos.3 & 5
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Tippett QuartetComposer: TippettThis is a superb follow-up to the Tippett Quartet’s first disc of its namesake’s works (reviewed in December 2008). The two quartets here are separated by 45 years, but share a penchant for lyricism combined with a fascination for Beethovenian ...
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ArticleWorld Wide Bass. Works by Piazzolla, Tugcular, Hirai, Abou-Khalil, Towner, Lowka, Egilsson & Trad
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Christine Hoock, Glen Moore (double bass) Dietmar Lowka (double bass/percussion) Barbara Nussbaum (piano) Andreas Hinterseher (accordion)Composer: Piazzolla, Tugcular, Hirai, Abou-Khalil, Towner, Lowka, Egilsson & Trad. Ten tracks take us on a highly enjoyable musical journey around the world, Christine Hoock and her ...
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ArticleForgotten Virtuosi. Works by Striggio, Baltzar, Schop, Nau, Castello, Marini etc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Jonathan Talbott (Renaissance violin), Tormod Dalen (bass violin) Maxine Eilander (double harp), Andrew Maginley (theorbo/guitar) Stephen Taylor (organ)Composer: Striggio, Baltzar, Schop, Nau, Castello, Marini etcThis disc comprises an adventurous and engaging programme of violin works from the first half of the 17th ...
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ArticleJoshua Bell – at home with friends. Music by Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Lennon & McCartney, Berlin, Gershwin, etc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Joshua Bell (violin) & guestsComposer: Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Lennon & McCartney, Berlin, Gershwin, etcJoshua Bell’s many admirers can rest assured that he is at his most tonally lustrous and musically seductive throughout this generous collection of lighter musical fare on the reflective side. ...
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ArticleMeyer: String Quartets no.5 op.42, no.6 op.51 & no.8 op.67
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Wieniawski QuartetComposer: MeyerThe Wieniawski Quartet features front-desk performers whose mutual understanding has matured over eleven years, and whose name (honouring Poland’s greatest violin virtuoso) sets them daunting challenges to which they rise effortlessly. It is led by Jaroslaw ?olnierczyk, concertmaster of the ...
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ArticleSchubert: Complete Works for Violin and Piano vol.1: Violin Sonatas in D major D384, A minor D385 & G minor D408; Rondo brillant in B minor D895
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin) MartinuHelmchen (piano)Composer: Schubert We seem to have said goodbye for ever to the cuddly image of Schubert. And a good thing too, some may say. These splendid performances, perhaps the best of the current bunch, are definitely German rather ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.1 op.107. Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme op.33
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Kim Cook (cello) Volgograd Symphony Orchestra/Edward SerovComposer: Shostakovich, TchaikovskyThis CD of tried and tested repertoire offers precious few musical insights and at 50 minutes duration represents rather poor value. The Shostakovich is particularly disappointing, suffering from a lacklustre recording with a rather ...
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ArticleSinding: Music for Violin and Piano vol.1: Suite im alten Stil op.10, Waltzes op.59 (excerpts), Cantus doloris op.78, Romance in D major op.79 no.2, Four Pieces op.81 nos.1 & 2, Three Pieces op.89 nos
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)Composer: SindingIn his Norwegian homeland, Christian Sinding (1856–1941) is a major figure whose latest symphonies, operas, concertos and chamber works were once awaited with eager anticipation. Yet for many years the only piece by which he ...
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ArticleStamitz: Cello Concertos no.1 in G major & no.2 in A major, Sinfonia concertante in D major for violin, viola and orchestra*
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ulrich Grehling (violin) Ulrich Koch (viola) Zoltan Ròcz (cello) Cappella Coloniensis/Günther Wich, Marcel Couraud*Composer: StamitzThe 18th-century Mannheim bigwig Carl Stamitz certainly produced well-crafted and pleasantly melodious music, but on the evidence of this disc offers very little that really sticks in the ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: String Quartets no.1 in D major op.11 & no. 2 in F major op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Utrecht QuartetComposer: TchaikovskyThe soulful and perfectly shaded opening of the D major Quartet, followed by impetuosity in the big and thrusting central theme, are indicative of the wide ranging mood changes and intensity of the Utrecht Quartet’s performance as a whole.The unaffected ...
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ArticleHaydn: 6 Sonatas for Violin and Viola (Hob.VI:1–6)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anton Steck (violin) Christian Goosses (viola) Composer: HaydnAnton Steck and Christian Goosses bring much vitality and refined musicianship to these performances, captured here in a clear and resonant recording. One’s pleasure remains undisturbed by the ‘balance of power’ in ...
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ArticleHolmboe: Violin Sonatas no.1, no.2 op.16 & no.3 op.89, Reminiscences, Violin Solo, Bagatelle no.1 ‘Arabesque’, Haiduc op.193
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Johannes Søe Hansen (violin) Christina Bjørkøe (piano)Composer: Holmboe This disc presents all of Danish composer Vagn Holmboe’s works for violin and piano. Imbued with a flavour of the folk music of his native land, as well of that ...
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ArticleMessiaen: Thème et variations (arr. Handy), Louange Á l'éternité de Jésus. Martinu: Cello Sonata no.1. Carter: Cello Sonata. Cutler: Music for Parakeets
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lionel Handy (cello) Nigel Clayton (piano) Composer: Messiaen, Martinu Carter, CutlerWith this, his first solo disc, British cellist Lionel Handy marks both last year’s Messiaen and Carter centenaries and his own miraculous return to playing after serious injury. Messiaen’s Theme and ...
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ArticleMilhaud: Quatre visages op.238, Viola Concerto no.1 op.108. Ysaÿe: Solo Cello Sonata op.28 (arr. viola). Hindemith: Solo Viola Sonata op.25 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Susanne van Els (viola) Gerard Bouwhuis (piano) Schönberg Ensemble/Reinbert de Leeuw Composer: Milhaud, Ysaÿe, HindemithThis imaginatively planned CD begins and ends with nicely lilting performances of two of Milhaud’s Quatre visages, its centrepiece being the composer’s First Viola Concerto. Both ...
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ArticlePaganini: Twenty-Four Caprices op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Thomas Zehetmair (violin)Composer: PaganiniApproximately 15 years on from his original Teldec recording of Paganini’s notorious caprices, Thomas Zehetmair’s second reading demonstrates greater technical assurance and musical maturity; even the most challenging passages are mastered with pleasing tone and intonation and with the ...
