All Reviews articles – Page 199
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ArticleDuos for Violin and Viola. Works by John Williams, Copland, Spohr, Martinu, Jakulov & Rolla
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Victor Romanul (violin) Michael Zaretsky (viola)Composer: John Williams, Copland, Spohr, Martinu, Jakulov & Rolla 'Top billing’ – to use appropriate Hollywood parlance – is given on this CD to the world premiere recording of the Duo concertante by John ...
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ArticleViolette: Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Robert Uchida (violin)Composer: Violette New York composer Andrew Violette’s Sonata is, in his own words, an attempt to ‘go back to basics, to investigate the single line’. At almost two hours long – including a set of variations on ...
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ArticleOnslow: Violin Sonatas op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Moderntimes_1800 Composer: OnslowGeorge Onslow’s three op.16 sonatas were composed in 1819 with the somewhat curious designation for fortepiano and violin or viola or cello. They exploit pre-Romantic features characteristic of Hummel, displaying surprising harmonic ingenuity and originality of content, and treating each ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.2 in G major op.126, Cello Sonata in D minor op.40
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Mihaela Ursuleasa (piano) Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht (conductor)Composer: ShostakovichShostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto is much darker in nature than the composer’s first and has all too often been regarded as its poor cousin. Yet recently interest in the work ...
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ArticleHolbrooke: Violin Sonata no.3 in F major ‘Orientale’*. Walford Davies: Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor op.7*. Rootham: Violin Sonata in G minor*. Arthur Benjamin: Cello Sonatina†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jacqueline Roche (violin) Justin Pearson (cello) Robert Stevenson (piano)* Sophia Rahman (piano)† Composer: Holbrooke, Walford Davies, Rootham, Arthur BenjaminThis disc of rarities by little-known English composers is of mixed appeal but is for the most part very finely performed. Joseph Holbrooke’s Violin ...
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ArticleBate: Viola Concerto. Vaughan Williams: Romance (orch. Chase). Bell: Rosa mystica
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Roger Chase (viola) BBC Concert Orchestra, Stephen Bell (conductor) Composer: Bate, Vaughan Williams, BellWilliam Henry Bell’s Rosa mystica is a three-movement viola concerto written in 1916, after the composer had settled in Cape Town as director of the South ...
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ArticleSchmitt: Piano Quintet, Hasards
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Stanislas Quartet, Christian Ivaldi (piano)Composer: Schmitt One of Fauré’s most distinguished pupils, Florent Schmitt (1870–1958) was in many ways the ‘missing link’ in post-Romantic French music. Like his great teacher, Schmitt was not given to wearing his heart on ...
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ArticleStrauss: Volin Sonata in E flat major op.18. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.1 in F minor op. 80
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker (violin) Fabio Bidini (piano) Composer: Strauss, ProkofievSabrina-Vivian Höpcker impresses in this debut CD, with captivating readings of sonatas by Strauss and Prokofiev, and she is given impeccable support by pianist Fabio Bidini. Strauss’s beautiful but fiendish Sonata ...
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ArticleEuropa. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Szymanowski: Mythes op.30. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 in A major op.25. Bartók:Violin Rhapsody no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Janacek, Szymanowski, Enescu, Bartók Juxtaposing major works written within the space of 13 years by four European composers would appear a fascinating concept, though in the event this disc shows just how ...
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ArticleDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104. Herbert: Cello Concerto no.2 in E minor op.30
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gautier Capuçon (cello) Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi (conductor)Composer: Dvorák, HerbertGautier Capuçon is not the first cellist to have paired these two concertos from 1890s New York, though I’m not convinced of the wisdom of showing up a mediocre work with ...
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ArticleVieuxtemps: Violin Concerto no.5 in A minor op.37. Wieniawski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor op.22, Fantaisie brillante on Themes from Gounod’s ‘Faust’ op.20
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Corey Cerovsek (violin) Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)Composer: Vieuxtemps, WieniawskiAlthough Corey Cerovsek and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra deliver polished performances here, this disc displays a conventional stylistic approach to the repertoire. Cerovsek, born in Vancouver and a graduate of Toronto’s Royal ...
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ArticleRózsa: Viola Concerto op.37, Hungarian Serenade op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gilad Karni (viola) Budapest Concert Orchestra MÁV, Mariusz Smolij (conductor)Composer: Rózsa In spite – or because – of his huge success in Hollywood, Miklós Rózsa strictly separated his work for the film industry from his ‘serious’ compositions ...
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ArticleArensky: Violin Concerto in A minor op.54. Taneyev: Suite de concert op.28
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor)Composer: Arensky, TaneyevIlya Gringolts plays the Arensky Concerto as though it is a blazing masterpiece. In a recording in which he is backed to the hilt by Ilan Volkov and the ...
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ArticleDavid Anderson: Double Bass Sonata*. Luis Prado: Three Meditations for double bass and piano*. Boismortier: Sonata in D major op.50 no.3 (arr. Kurtz)†
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jeremy Kurtz (double bass) Benjamin Kamins (bassoon)† Ines Irawati (piano)* Alison Luedecke (harpsichord)† Composer: David Anderson, Luis Prado, Boismortier The rich, post-Romantic harmonies and predominantly slow tempos of both US bassist David Anderson’s Double Bass Sonata (1990) and the ...
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ArticleRagaSaga for String Quartet
Musicians: V.S. Narasimhan (electric violins/electric viola) V.R. Sekar (electric cello) Composer: VariousV.S. Narasimhan’s musical experiences straddle the Western and Karnatak (South Indian) classical traditions, and his arrangements of the latter attempt to incorporate the former on this album.Firstly, a potential disappointment should be made explicit: this is ...
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ArticleBrahms: Viola Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.120 no.1* & no.2 in E flat major op.120 no.2† , Violin Sonata no.1 in G major op.78 (arr. viola Klengel–Rysanov)*, Trios in E flat major op.40* & in A minor op
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Maxim Rysanov (viola) Boris Brovtsyn (violin) Kristine Blaumane (cello) Katya Apekisheva (piano)* Jacob Katsnelson (piano)† Composer: BrahmsBrahms’s music is, of course, central to the repertoire of every viola player but, somewhat perversely, his only original compositions for viola, the Songs op.91, are ...
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ArticleChausson: Concert in D major op.21 for violin, piano & string quartet. Fauré: Violin Sonata no.1 in A major op.13
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Soovin Kim (violin) Jeremy Denk (piano) Jupiter QuartetComposer: Chausson, FauréSoovin Kim is a young American violinist who here teams up with Jeremy Denk for the second time on disc. It is also Kim’s second recording for Azica; the first, his 2006 recording ...
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ArticleSaint-Saëns: Complete works for cello and orchestra: Cello Concertos nos.1 & 2, Suite in D minor op.16, Romance in F major op.36, Allegro appassionato op.43, The Swan
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Johannes Moser (cello) Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra SWR, Fabrice Bollon (conductor) Composer: Saint-SaënsWith a collection of much-lauded CDs to his name already, Johannes Moser might be expected to produce a Saint-Saëns disc that is rather special. And indeed ...
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ArticleSpohr: Duo in E minor op.13. Rolla: Duo concertant in C minor op.4 no.2. Kalliwoda: Duet in C major op.208 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Vaughan Jones (violin) Reiad Chibah (viola)Composer: Spohr, Rolla, KalliwodaThe violin–viola duet repertoire rarely provides the most marketable listening fare, but Vaughan Jones and Reiad Chibah perform these well-crafted, challenging works with commendable accuracy and ensemble, as well as in an appropriately conversational ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: String Quartets nos.1 & 2. Rózycki: String Quartet in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Royal QuartetComposer: Szymanowski, Rózycki Szymanowski spent much of the early 1900s studying the folk music of his native Tatra mountains, enthusing that ‘each man must go to the earth from which he derives’. As time went by his ...
