All Reviews articles – Page 204
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ArticleMendelssohn: Cello Sonatas no.1 in B flat major op.45 & no.2 in B flat major op.58, Variations concertantes op.17, Lied ohne Worte op.109, Albumblatt Assai tranquillo
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Sergei Istomin (cello) Viviana Sofronitsky (piano)Composer: Mendelssohn Although Mendelssohn’s cello works are hardly uncharted territory this new release of his complete oeuvre for cello and piano has the selling-point of using a reproduction Conrad Graf fortepiano of ...
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ArticleTippett: String Quartets nos.1, 2 & 4
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tippett QuartetComposer: Tippett Tippett himself coached the Lindsay Quartet (as it was then called) for its recording of his first three quartets (ASV) and wrote the last two for the same players. How much the composer became swept ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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ArticleBruch: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor op.26. Paganini: Violin Concerto no.1 in D major op.6
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Alexandra Soumm (violin) Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Georg Mark (conductor)Composer: Bruch, PaganiniAt 19, Alexandra Soumm has already established herself as a fine violinist, with a number of high-profile successes to her name, including top spot at the 2004 Eurovision Competition for young musicians. ...
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ArticleReger: Complete String Trios and Piano Quartets vol.1: String Trio in A minor op.77b, Piano Quartet in D minor op.113
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Aperto Piano QuartetComposer: RegerMax Reger’s standing as a composer now largely resides in his works for organ, though chamber music occupied much of his attention throughout his short life. The present release, which promises to be the first of two discs containing ...
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ArticleSaint-Saëns: String Quartets nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Joachim QuartetComposer: Saint-SaënsOn the whole, string players did very well by the mellifluous creative genius of Camille Saint-Saëns. Such was the ease with which he produced expertly crafted scores that occasionally his music was left bereft of emotional imperativeness, yet ...
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ArticleThe Devil's Trill. Tartini: Violin Sonatas op.1 no.4 in G minor ‘The Devil’s Trill’, Largo from op.1 no,5, op.1 no.10 in G minor ‘Didone abbandonata’ & op.1 no.13 in A major ‘Pastorale’, Grave in D mi
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: PalladiansComposer: Tartini, VeraciniThe Palladians play this challenging programme with characteristic insight and élan, radiating real empathy with the idiom. Violinist Rodolfo Richter meets the formidable technical demands of Tartini’s ‘Devil’s Trill’ and ‘Didone abbandonata’ sonatas with striking aplomb, negotiating with commendable virtuosity ...
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ArticleDohnányi: Piano Quintets no.1 in C minor op.1 & no.2 in E flat minor op.26, Cello Sonata in B flat minor op.8
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Kocian Quartet, Michal Kanka (cello) Jaromír Klepác (piano)Composer: Dohnányi The second volume in a Dohnányi series based around the Kocian Quartet opens with one of the best ‘opus ones’ in the literature – although the Hungarian pianist and ...
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ArticleFoerster: Violin Concertos no.1 in C minor & no.2 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ivan Ženatý (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ji?í B?lohlávek (conductor)Composer: FoersterThe two violin concertos of Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951) are quite different affairs, the first dramatic and colourful, the second severe and intense, and occupying a more unsettled harmonic world. Both are in ...
