All Reviews articles – Page 197
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ArticleBusoni: Violin Sonata no.2 in E minor op.36a. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 op.25 ‘dans le caractère populaire roumain’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nurit Stark (violin) Cédric Pescia (piano) Composer: Busoni, EnescuThis is an interesting disc debut for an Israeli violinist and French–Swiss pianist who form a regular duo and play in the Esart Trio. They appear to have held two public recording sessions ...
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ArticleHaydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ op.51
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Leipzig Quartet Composer: HaydnHaydn’s seven sober and imposingly spiritual ‘sonatas’, framed by a solemn introduction and dramatic epilogue, pose considerable interpretative problems, not least one of sustaining interest throughout. Haydn himself recognised these difficulties but persevered to fulfil the ...
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ArticleCantabile. Arrangements of opera arias and songs by Gounod, Offenbach, Bizet, Delibes, Tchaikovsky, Thomas, Canteloube, Hahn, Faure, Lopez & Rossini*
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Mihaela Ursuleasa (piano)* Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Olivieri-MunroeComposer: Gounod, Offenbach, Bizet, Delibes, Tchaikovsky, Thomas, Canteloube, Hahn, Faure, Lopez & Rossini*‘She looks like a model,’ was my nine-year-old son’s immediate comment on seeing the cover picture of Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta. ...
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ArticleFeminissimo! Women Playing Music By Women. Works by Warshauer, Bacewicz, Price, Lund, Risher, Diemer, Viardot-Garcia, Kapralova, Fabregas
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Laura Kobayashi (violin) Susan Keith Gray (piano)Composer: Warshauer, Bacewicz, Price, Lund, Risher, Diemer, Viardot-Garcia, Kapralova, Fabregas Despite the rather earnest title, this disc does the valuable job of introducing a handful of female composers of various nationalities whose voices are rarely ...
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ArticlePartners in Time. Works by Kreisler, Bach, Mozart, Grieg, Tchaikovsky & Bartók
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tasmin Little (violin) John Lenehan (piano)Composer: Kreisler, Bach, Mozart, Grieg, Tchaikovsky & Bartók Last year Tasmin Little’s website offered a free download of her recital The Naked Violin, with the objective of reaching out to those who hardly ever listen to ...
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ArticlePourquoi, Madame? Works by George Boulanger, Dinicu, Schmitz, Schmidseder, Nedbal, Monti, Lehár, Edelmann, Rezsö, Knümann & Trad.
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Prima Carezza Composer: George Boulanger, Dinicu, Schmitz, Schmidseder, Nedbal, Monti, Lehár, Edelmann, Rezsö, Knümann & Trad.Prima Carezza, an ensemble of two violins and accordion, here revisits the salon world of the early 20th century and its musical blend of Viennese poise ...
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ArticleBritten: Double Concerto for Violin & Viola, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Les illuminations
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Pieter Schoeman (violin) Alexander Zemtsov (viola) Sally Matthews (soprano) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir JurowskiComposer: Britten Britten’s Double Concerto was written in 1932, immediately before his acknowledged op.1, the Sinfonietta, but remained unheard until as recently as 1997. Pieter Schoeman and Alexander ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concertos no.1 op.107 & no.2 op.126
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Dimitri Maslennikov (cello) NDR Symphony Orchestra/Christoph EschenbachComposer: Shostakovich Shostakovich would surely have been gratified with the increasing prominence being given to his Second Cello Concerto, at least in terms of recording releases. It’s certainly a testing work, presenting the soloist ...
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ArticleBach: Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas BWV1001-6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Viktoria Mullova (violin)Composer: BachThere is more to playing Bach’s sonatas and partitas than fitting your 1750 Guadagnini with gut strings and acquiring a fine Baroque bow, especially so when your career has been established on Romantic violin concertos. Viktoria Mullova has already ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Nocturne and Tarantella op.28, Mythes op.30, Romance in D major op.23, Violin Sonata in D minor op.9, Three Paganini Caprices op.40, La berceuse d’Aïtacho Enia op.52
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) Cédric Tiberghien (piano)Composer: SzymanowskiMuch of this music is deeply poetic, diffuse, difficult to capture for listener and performers alike. Its extended rhapsodies and soliloquies, often extremely beautiful, twist around in amorphous lines that can too easily become meandering and ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in B flat major K454, in G major K379 & in C major K296, Six Variations on ‘Au bord d’une fontaine’ K360
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Petra Müllejans (violin) Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)Composer: MozartAccording to the CD packaging, Petra Müllejans and Kristian Bezuidenhout play these pieces in a way that ‘recaptures the freshness and volatility’ of their early performances. Those first airings, with Mozart sometimes playing a keyboard part ...
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ArticleCreith: Violin Concerto in G minor. Pitfield: Concerto lyrico. Arnell: Violin Concerto in One Movement op.9
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lorraine McAslan (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/MartinuYates Composer: Creith, Pitfield, ArnellAs all three pieces featured here are likely to be as unfamiliar to readers as they were to me, some historical background may prove helpful. Guirne Creith was the nom ...
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ArticleBritten's Cello Suites nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Denise Djokic (cello)Composer: BrittenNova Scotia-born cellist Denise Djokic, a student of Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music who later studied in Boston with Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser, emerges as a serious artist with a distinctive identity in this her ...
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ArticleScandinavia. Maier: Violin Sonata in B minor. Aulin: Four Watercolours. Grieg: Violin Sonata no.1 in F major op.8
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gregory Maytan (violin) Nicole Lee (piano) Composer: Maier, Aulin, GriegThe most familiar piece here by some distance is Grieg’s op.8 Sonata in F major, a delightfully exuberant confirmation of the Norwegian’s burgeoning creative powers. Gregory Maytan, ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: String Quartet no.1 in D major op.11. Prokofiev: String Quartet no.1 in B minor op.50. Gabriel Prokofiev: String Quartet no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ruysdael QuartetComposer: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Gabriel ProkofievQuartets seem to have run out of composers and branched out into painters for their names. The young Ruysdael Quartet from the Netherlands, founded in 1996 at The Hague Conservatoire, makes a very positive impression ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64, Piano Trio no.1 in D minor op.49, Violin Sonata in F major (1838)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) Lynn Harrell (cello) André Previn (piano) Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Masur (conductor)Composer: MendelssohnAnne-Sophie Mutter has been one of the better German violinists for 30 years now, so it is probably too late to expect her to fulfil the promise ...
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ArticleStrauss Cello Sonata in F major op.6, Romanze in F major, Morgen op.27 no.4 (arr. Maisky). Dvorák: Sonatina in G major op.100, Romantic Piece op.75 no.4, Rondo in G minor op.94
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mischa Maisky (cello) Pavel Gililov (piano)Composer: Strauss, Dvorák On the surface Dvo?ák and Strauss might appear an unlikely pairing. Their connection here rests with the Czech cellist Hanus Wihan, the fortunate dedicatee both of Strauss’s Cello Sonata ...
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ArticleBach: Concerto in D minor for 2 violins BWV1043, Concerto in D minor for violin & oboe BWV1060, Violin Concertos in A minor BWV1041 & in E major BWV1042
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin/director) Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin) Andrey Rubtsov (oboe) Academy of St Martinuin the FieldsComposer: Bach Although Julia Fischer is no advocate of historically informed performance, she has clearly absorbed some of the hallmarks of Baroque ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets in E flat major op.127, in B flat major op.130, in C sharp minor op.131, in A minor op.132 & in F major op.135, Grosse Fuge in B flat major op.133
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Wihan Quartet Composer: BeethovenBeethoven’s so-called ‘late quartets’ have an inevitably large and long discography. The 1928 recordings by the Rosé Quartet (including op.131 on Biddulph) are perhaps the closest on disc to the sound world familiar in 19th-century Germany (although the Klingler ...
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ArticleAriosti: Stockholm Sonatas vol.3: Sonatas nos.15–21, Cantata ‘Pur alfin gentil viola’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Thomas Georgi (viola d’amore) Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann (cello) Lucas Harris (archlute/guitar) Emma Kirkby (soprano) Composer: AriostiWith this CD, Thomas Georgi completes his magisterial survey of the music for viola d’amore by Handel’s contemporary Attilio Ariosti (1666–1729). The manuscript of his Recueil de ...
