All Reviews articles – Page 199
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ArticleGrieg: Cello Sonata in A minor op.36, Lyric Pieces (selection, arr. Bertrand & Amoyel), Allegretto in E major, Intermezzo in A minor
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello) Pascal Amoyel (piano)Composer: Grieg Emmanuelle Bertrand and Pascal Amoyel present an almost ideal performance of Grieg’s Cello Sonata. Supported by a wonderfully vivid recording, they elicit a totally compelling narrative in the first movement. The ensuing Andante ...
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ArticleRimsky-Korsakov: Fantasy on Russian Themes op.33. Taneyev: Suite de concert op.28
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lydia Mordkovitch (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (conductor) Composer: Rimsky-Korsakov, TaneyevIf there is anyone who could rescue these two chips off the Russian nationalist block from total oblivion it is Lydia Mordkovitch, especially working with ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Quartets in G minor op.25, in A major op.26 & in C minor op.60
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Gérard Caussé (viola) Gautier Capuçon (cello) Nicholas Angelich (piano)Composer: BrahmsGiven the line-up of artists, these discs appear to have all the makings of unqualified success. However, although the strongly projected readings display striking virtuosity, the end musical product does ...
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ArticlePenderecki: Concerto grosso no.1 for three cellos & orchestra; Largo for cello & orchestra*; Sonata for cello & orchestra†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ivan Monighetti (cello)† Arto Noras (cello)* Rafal Kwiatkowski (cello) Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit (conductor)Composer: Penderecki Penderecki’s output is something of a stylistic anomaly. The Polish composer is best-known for his seminal 1960 work for strings, Threnody ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Concerto no.1, Viola Concerto, Concerto for Two Pianos & Percussion
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gidon Kremer (violin) Yuri Bashmet (viola) Tamara Stefanovich (piano) Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) Nigel Thomas (percussion) Neil Percy (percussion) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (conductor) Composer: BartókPierre Boulez, completing his Bartók cycle with this CD, could hardly ...
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ArticleBax: Piano Trio in B flat major. Bernstein: Piano Trio op.2. Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major op.70 no.1 ‘Ghost’
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ensemble AvalonComposer: Bax, Bernstein, Beethoven Rarely has Bax’s deeply personal, post-Romantic idiom been captured with such ravishing sensitivity as by this remarkable Irish ensemble. Composed in the mid-1940s, the three-movement Piano Trio is not a work ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete works for piano and violin vol. 1: Violin Sonatas op.12 no.1, op.23 & op.30 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Franco Mezzena (violin) Stefano Giavazzi (piano)Composer: Beethoven That Franco Mezzena and Stefano Giavazzi give assured and mostly very clean performances of these seminal works is only to be expected, given their credentials. Mezzena, a pupil of Salvatore Accardo, is ...
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ArticlePurcell: Fantasias
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Il Suonar Parlante, Vittorio Ghielmi (soprano viol/director)Composer: Purcell Purcell’s fantasias in three, four and, in one case, five parts comprise sharply defined sections of varying tempo and character. They demonstrate his resourcefulness in the techniques of imitation and contrapuntal ...
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ArticleVivaldi: Le quattro stagioni. Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor ‘Devil’s Trill’
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Joshua Bell (violin) John Constable (harpsichord) Academy of St Martinuin the FieldsComposer: Vivaldi, TartiniIt is perhaps a sign of the times that most modern violinists approach Baroque repertoire in ways influenced by ‘historically informed’ performance. This can give rise to a strange ...
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ArticleEdgar Meyer and Chris Thile
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Edgar Meyer (double bass) Chris Thile (mandolin)Composer: VariousThe first recorded collaboration between triple Grammy award-winner Edgar Meyer and virtuoso mandolin player Chris Thile has been well worth the wait for those who knew anything of them as a duo previously.The blend of ...
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ArticleCras: Cello Sonata, Piano Trio, Largo for cello & piano
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Philippe Koch (violin) Aleksandr Khramouchin (cello) Alain Jacquon (piano) Composer: CrasJean Cras (1879–1932) was a self-taught composer who spent much of his life reluctantly serving in the French navy. Despite lack of formal musical training, his compositional fluency is impressive – ...
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ArticleBreinschmid: Wien bleibt Krk
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Georg Breinschmid (double bass) & friendsComposer: Breinschmid Georg Breinschmid will be known to double bass aficionados as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic as well as numerous jazz ensembles. In recent years he has devoted more time to composition ...
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ArticleDebussy: Cello Sonata, La plus que lente, Scherzo, Intermezzo. Poulenc: Cello Sonata, Bagatelle, Sérénade, Suite française
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) Alexandre Tharaud (piano)Composer: Debussy, Poulenc Pianist Alexandre Tharaud opens Debussy’s Cello Sonata with such portentous dignity that you can’t help sitting up – there’s a strong feeling that this is going to be a serious ...
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ArticleBass Trip. Works by Teppa Hauta-Aho, Arvo Pärt, Paul Ramsier, Jon Øivind Ness, Mario Lavista, Henrik Hellstenius, Lars Petter Hagen, Stefan Schäfer & Peteris Vasks
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Dan Styffe (double bass) Catherine bullock (viola) Øystein Birkeland (cello), Gonzalo Moreno (piano) Susanna Wallumrød (vocals) Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen (percussion)Composer: Teppa Hauta-Aho, Arvo Pärt, Paul Ramsier, Jon Øivind Ness, Mario Lavista, Henrik Hellstenius, Lars Petter Hagen, Stefan Schäfer & Peteris Vasks ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Sonata in E minor op. posth. (1903), Sonata for solo violin, Andante, Hungarian Folksongs
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Elise BŠtnes (violin) HŠvard Gimse (piano) Composer: BartókThis useful, stimulating disc provides the Bartók enthusiast with superb, up-to-date versions of three unusual works for violin and piano, as well as the masterpiece for violin alone. Elise Båtnes, who was in her mid-30s ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Sonata in E minor op.82. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major op.18. Ravel: Violin Sonata in A minor op. posth.
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Jonathan Crow (violin) Paul Stewart (piano)Composer: Elgar, Strauss, Ravel Six years ago, and at the age of 25, Jonathan Crow was appointed concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony, becoming the youngest leader of a major North American orchestra. More recently ...
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ArticleKrzysztof Penderecki: Violin Sonata no.2. Piotr Lachert: Violin Sonatas nos.9 & 17
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Hanna Lachert (violin) Hélène Jeanney (piano)Composer: Penderecki, Piotr LachertThis disc was recorded to mark Penderecki’s 75th and Lachert’s 70th birthdays. The accompanying booklet is irritatingly coy about the fact that violinist Hannah Lachert is Lachert’s sister: it’s only alluded to in Lachert’s ...
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ArticleBach: Violin Sonatas BWV 1014–19
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Enrico Pace (piano)Composer: BachA constant feature of these performances is the space between the notes. Frank Peter Zimmermann favours a clipped style of playing, bringing to the semiquaver passages of faster movements in particular a level of articulation ...
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ArticleDebussy: String Quartet in G minor op.10. Fauré: String Quartet in E minor op.121. Ravel: String Quartet in F major
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ebène QuartetComposer: Debussy, Fauré, Ravel What makes a quartet ensemble sound ‘French’? In the case of the Ebène Quartet, I think it is a refusal to play in too clammy a fashion. The players never sound dry on this very full ...
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ArticleBrahms: Viola Sonatas op.120 nos.1 & 2, Lieder (arr. Causa)
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ettore Causa (viola) Marc Pantillon (piano)Composer: Brahms Brahms’s late compositions have often been described as ‘autumnal’. In this latest recording of the viola sonatas, the music’s ‘mellow fruitfulness’ is further remarked upon in the interpreters’ comments, and in some evocative pictures in ...
