All Reviews articles – Page 211
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ArticlePintscher: en sourdine*, tenebrae† , Reflections on Narcissus‡
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin)* Christoph Desjardins (viola)† Truls Mørk (cello)‡ Ensemble Intercontemporain† , NDR Symphony Orchestra*‡, Matthias Pintscher (conductor)Composer: Pintscher ‘Muted’; ‘Shadows’; ‘Reflections’: if you were buying paint, they would be shades of grey, and as I remarked ...
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ArticleBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor & no.2 in F major. Schumann: Fünf Stücke in Volkston
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Clive Greensmith (cello) Boris Berman (piano) Composer: Brahms, SchumannAs cellist of the Tokyo Quartet Clive Greensmith brings real chamber-music qualities to the Brahms sonatas, with the cello by turns prominent and the next moment falling away to ...
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ArticleGarth: Six Concertos for the Violoncello op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Richard Tunnicliffe (cello) Avison Ensemble, Pavlo Besnosiuk (director)Composer: Garth The talented English organist, composer and entrepreneur John Garth (1721–1810) was based largely in Durham. His six cello concertos op.1 were published in 1760 and are transitional works in ...
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ArticleL. Berkeley: String Quartets nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Maggini Quartet Composer: L. BerkeleyI’ve been a fan of violinist Lorraine McAslan since she first burst upon the scene with a stunning 1989 account of the Britten concerto for the now defunct Collins Classics label (reissued on Naxos 8.557198), so it was ...
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ArticleViola incognita. Milhaud: Viola Sonata no.1 op.240. Hindemith: Viola Sonata in F major op.11 no.4. Winkler: Viola Sonata op.10
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pavel Ciprys (viola) Daniel Wiesner (piano)Composer: Milhaud, Hindemith, Winkler I am not sure which ‘unknown’ elements the title of this CD refers to. The viola itself? Hardly. The repertoire? Two of the three works are among the best known ...
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ArticleBach: Brandenburg Concertos nos.1–6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: European Brandenburg Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director)Composer: BachIf you haven’t heard of the European Brandenburg Ensemble before, that’s because this is its first recording, and hopefully not the last. Trevor Pinnock has gathered around him some of the finest of Europe’s ...
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ArticleBax: String Quartet no.1 in G major. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor op.83
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: PavÁo QuartetComposer: Bax, Elgar The last couple of decades have witnessed a remarkable general increase in quartet playing standards, yet the downside has been a corresponding tendency towards greater musical objectivism. What a relief, then, to discover ...
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ArticleViola-Trios. Just: Trio in E flat major op.13 no.4. Holzer: Trio in C major op.7. no.3. Glinka: Trio pathétique in D minor. Berger: Trio in G minor op.94
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Vidor Nagy (viola) Peter Wolf (cello) Carmen Piazzini (piano)Composer: Just, Holzer, Glinka, Berger If, like me, you thought that trios for viola, cello and piano must be really thin on the ground, maybe we should revise that opinion. ...
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ArticleComposers in the Loft. Lorenz: Bachangó*. Pann: Differences† . Jalbert: Piano Trio. Garrop: String Quartet no.2 ‘Demons and Angels’‡. Fung: Miniatures for clarinet and string quartet¶
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: David Ying (cello)† John Bruce Yeh (clarinet)¶ Marta Aznavoorian (piano)* Elinor Freer (piano)† Lincoln Trio, Blava Quartet‡, Maia Quartet¶Composer: Lorenz, Pann, Jalbert, Garrop, FungIt took only a few seconds of Ricardo Lorenz’s Bachangó for piano – Debussy meets Bartók, Piazzolla ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61, Violin Sonata no.7 in C minor op. 30 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Min-Jin Kym (violin) Ian Brown (piano) Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor)Composer: Beethoven Following her critically acclaimed recording of Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, Min-Jin Kym offers a strongly lyrical, authoritative account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. She shapes and unfolds the ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in C major op.59 no.3 (Rasumovsky), String Quintet in C major op.29
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Kuijken Two Generations Composer: BeethovenBeethoven in C major? The key may be the same but the works inhabit quite different planes, both effortlessly reached by this amazing dynastic Kuijken group. We have been hearing Sigiswald (violin) and Wieland ...
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ArticleLeclair: Six Sonatas for two violins op.3
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Harmonie UniverselleComposer: Leclair Having established a reputation as an outstanding dancer and violinist in his native France, Jean Marie Leclair spent time during his mature years living in Turin where he extended his violin studies and imbued the ...
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ArticleMozart: String Quartets in D minor K421 ‘Hunt’, in B flat major K458 & in C major K465 ‘Dissonance’
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pražák QuartetComposer: Mozart Three Mozart masterpieces played by four Czech masters of their craft. It ought to make for plain sailing, and I thoroughly enjoyed these performances. But nowadays we hear an astonishing range of string playing styles ...
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ArticleHonegger: Cello Concerto, Cello Sonata, Sonatina for cello and piano, Sonatina for violin and cello
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Kathryn Stott (piano) Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen (conductor) Composer: HoneggerFollowing on from his disc of music by Othmar Schoek, rising Swiss cello star Christian Poltéra turns to the works of another of ...
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ArticleWhirled Chamber Music
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Quartet San FranciscoComposer: Various Having showcased their tango expertise in Látigo (2006), the players of Quartet San Francisco (QSF) continue in a popular vein here, turning their attention to jazz, funk, blues and Bluegrass, while celebrating the centenary of ...
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ArticleRota: Complete music for violin and piano, and for viola and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Marco Fornaciari (violin/viola) Gabriele Baldocci (piano)Composer: Rota Nino Rota (1911–79) is, of course, best known as Federico Fellini’s long-time collaborator in numerous films (La strada, Otto e mezzo and Amarcord among them), but his ‘serious’ pieces span the whole ...
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ArticleHandel: Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: London Handel PlayersComposer: Handel The past thirty years have seen many efforts to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the authenticity of Handel’s published violin sonatas. It was a situation created by the original publisher’s misrepresentation of the music he was offering, and compounded ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in G minor op.20 no.3, in C major op.74 no.1 & in G major op.76 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Amsterdam Quartet Composer: HaydnThat the players of the Amsterdam Quartet employ gut strings and use period bows is obvious from their highly distinctive tonal quality, and the avoidance of vibrato etches every nuance of their interpretations with total clarity ...
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ArticlePaganini: Violin Concertos nos.1–6
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ingolf Turban (violin) WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, Lior Shambadal (conductor)Composer: PaganiniIn the hands of Ingolf Turban Paganini is not just an artist and virtuoso but an opera composer manqué. He plays many of the melodies as if they have lyrics, and mightily ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets op.18 nos.1-6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tokyo Quartet Composer: BeethovenFew ensembles exceed the high standards of the Tokyo Quartet. Its members here produce a sumptuous, beautifully blended sonority from their matching set of Stradivari instruments and perform with outstanding musical insight, unanimity ...
