All Reviews articles – Page 195
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ArticleConcertos of the 21st century. B. Mantovani: Cello Concerto. Schoeller: The Eyes of the Wind*. Amy: Cello Concerto†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra/Günther Herbig, Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Briger*, Orchestre de Paris/Gilbert Amy† Composer: B. Mantovani, Schoeller, AmyThree works from the past decade featured here suggest new paths the cello concerto might take ...
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ArticlePaganini: Variations on ‘Nel cor più non mi sento’ op.38, ‘God save the King op.9. Bartók: Sonata for solo violin. Skalkottas: Sonata for solo violin. Ysaÿe: Sonata no.6 for solo violin op.27 no.6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: George Zacharias (violin)Composer: Paganini, Bartók, Skalkottas, YsaÿeBy any standards this is an outstanding disc debut. George Zacharias, a young Greek violinist, studied in Athens with Despotidis, in London with Zivoni and in Sydney with Wilkomirska. He has been doing a ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77. Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major op.35
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nikolaj Znaider (violin) Vienna Philharmonic/Valery GergievComposer: Brahms, KorngoldNikolaj Znaider’s CD releases have so far been select enough to make each new one an event, and this coupling of two concertos with Viennese connections is no exception. Znaider adopts an unusually ...
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ArticleThe Celtic Viol. Airs and dances by O’Carolan, Fraser, Gow, Macpherson, Marshall & Trad. Irish & Scottish
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jordi Savall (viol/fiddle) Andrew Lawrence-King (Irish harp/psalterium) Composer: O’Carolan, Fraser, Gow, Macpherson, Marshall & Trad. Irish & Scottish Jordi Savall’s constant musical inquisitiveness, which has already taken him among many other places round the courts of mediaeval ...
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ArticleThe Piazzolla Project. Piazzolla: Concierto para quintet, Estaciones porteñas, Fuga y misterio, Suite del angel
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Artemis Quartet, Jacques Ammon (piano)Composer: PiazzollaThe ‘project’ here is simple: to transfer some of Piazzolla’s music into piano quintet, string quartet and piano trio formats, driven by Jacques Ammon and the Artemis’s cellist, Eckart Runge.The idea isn’t mind-blowingly innovative, but the end ...
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ArticleMozart: Complete Violin Concertos
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gidon Kremer (violin/director) Kremerata BalticaComposer: Mozart Gidon Kremer’s view of Mozart’s concertos is decidedly spiritoso, with some delightful affettuoso along the way. He and his beloved Kremerata Baltica are very much a double act, bandying phrases back and forth, ...
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ArticleKnox: Viola Spaces, Viola Spaces Variations on Marin Marais, La valse de la Vineuse, Jonah and the Whale, Ockeghem Fantasy
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Garth Knox (viola/viola d’amore) Johannes Eva, Julien Heichelbech, Marie Petit, Cyprien Busolini, Aurélien Grais (viola) Nathalie Chabot (violin) Agnès Vesterman (cello) Carol Robinson (clarinet) Gérard Buquet (tuba)Composer: Knox Few musicians can claim half as much experience in the performance of ...
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ArticleFloodplain
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Kronos QuartetComposer: Various Floodplain, created in one era of American politics and released in another, presents commissions and arrangements of music from around the Middle East.So much of the CD’s effect is bound up in the strength of the ...
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ArticlePurcell: Ten Sonatas in Four Parts
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Retrospect Trio Composer: PurcellRetrospect Trio is an offshoot of Retrospect Ensemble, which is in turn an artistically broader reincarnation of The King’s Consort. Sophie Gent and Matthew Truscott alternate as lead violinist in this debut disc, but ...
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ArticleAlbinoni: Sinfonie a cinque op.2
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Chiara Banchini (violin/director) Ensemble 415Composer: Albinoni Tomaso Albinoni’s six Sinfonie a cinque, trio sonatas in all but name, alternate with concertos in his op.2 (Venice, 1700). Ensemble 415 performs them with an appealing simplicity, which spawns a natural feeling for ...
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ArticleMusica Latina. Works by Bonfa, Granda, Lara, Pixiguinha, Jobim, Piazzolla, Velasquez, Corona, Duran & Abreu
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Quartetto Gelato, with Penderecki Quartet, Kristina Reiko Cooper (cello) Roberto Occhipinti (double bass) Rosendo ‘Chendy’ Leon, Maninho Costa (percussion) Cynthia Steljes (cor anglais) Composer: Bonfa, Granda, Lara, Pixiguinha, Jobim, Piazzolla, Velasquez, Corona, Duran & AbreuThis is jolly: the Toronto-based Quartetto Gelato (which ...
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ArticleBlitzstein: String Quartet ‘Italian’, Serenade for string quartet, solo piano works
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Del Sol Quartet, Sarah Cahill (piano) Composer: BlitzsteinMarc Blitzstein (1905–64) was a phenomenally gifted piano virtuoso as well as a composer with a highly distinctive creative voice. He had lessons from both Schoenberg and Nadia Boulanger, but it was the ...
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ArticleThere Is No Sound in Space
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: James Sudakow (electric violin) Eric Zimmermann (guitar/programming) Composer: VariousDon’t go near this CD if you have a horror of progressive rock, as this is very much violinist James Sudakow’s starting point in creating a disc where his electric violin essentially functions ...
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ArticleSaint-Lubin: Virtuoso works for violin vol.1: Grand duo concertant op.49, Fantaisie sur un thème de ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ op.46, Thème original et Étude de S. Thalberg op.45a, Adagio religioso op.44,
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anastasia Khitruk (violin) Elizaveta Kopelman (piano)Composer: Saint-LubinThat the life and work of Léon de Saint-Lubin (1805–50) are not better known is proof that the verdict of history is not always a fair one: the music on this disc is colourful and far ...
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ArticleSchumann: Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor op.121, Kinderszenen op.15. Bartók: Violin Sonata no.1, Solo Violin Sonata. Kreisler: Liebesleid, Schön Rosmarin
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gidon Kremer (violin) Martha Argerich (piano)Composer: Schumann, Bartók, Kreisler Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich have given us formidable duo concerts, among which this one from Berlin in December 2006 must stand high. Those who have heard Kremer in recent years ...
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ArticleWalton: Cello Concerto, Passacaglia for solo cello. Bloch: Suite no.1 for solo cello. Ligeti: Sonata for solo cello. Britten: Ciaccona from Cello Suite no.2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Jeffrey TateComposer: Walton, Bloch, Ligeti, BrittenThe main pieces on this disc are linked by date rather than genre, all being products of the 1950s. Pieter Wispelwey writes evocatively in the booklet of recording the Walton ...
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ArticleDvorák: Bagatelles op.47, Terzetto op.74, Miniatures op.75a. Suk: Piano Quartet in A minor op.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Josef Suk, Miroslav Ambroš (violin) Karel Untermüller (viola) Ji?í Bárta (cello) Jan Simon (harmonium/piano)Composer: Dvorák, SukThe expected flood of reissues for Josef Suk’s 80th-birthday year has already begun – the riches include the nonpareil 1958 ‘Dumky’ Trio (Eloquence) – but ...
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ArticleHarvey: String Quartets nos.1–4, String Trio
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Arditti QuartetComposer: Harvey The music of the British composer Jonathan Harvey, who turned 70 this year, displays the clear influence of figures such as Stockhausen, Babbitt and Boulez in its complex, striving textures and unusual, restlessly changing playing techniques. ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Concertos no.1 in B flat major K207 & no.3 in G major K216, Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Antoine Tamestit (viola) Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Louis Langrée Composer: MozartHere we have super-clean Mozart, immaculately executed by Renaud Capuçon and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO), joined in the Sinfonia concertante by the equally fastidious Antoine Tamestit. Capuçon is, in particular, ...
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ArticleDvorák: Violin Concerto in A minor op.53, Violin Sonata in F major op.57, Violin Sonatina in G major op.100
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jack Liebeck (violin) Katya Apekisheva (piano) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Garry WalkerComposer: DvorákBringing together all three of Dvo?ák’s major solo violin scores is an excellent idea for a well-filled disc, particularly so when offered in such outstanding performances. Having rejected the competition circuit ...
