All Reviews articles – Page 213
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ArticleSchumann: Cello Concerto op.129. Brahms: Serenade no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Natalia Gutman (cello) Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (conductor)Composer: Schumann, Brahms Recorded while touring Europe with this concerto to mark the 150th anniversary of Schumann’s death last year, Natalia Gutman’s interpretation of the work is considered and stately. The ...
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ArticleBach: Violin Concertos in D minor BWV1052, G minor BWV1056, E major BWV1042 & A minor BWV1041
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Amandine Beyer (violin/director) Gli IncognitiComposer: BachIf you flicked on any single movement on this CD you’d think, ‘this is nice’ – bouncy, accurate, fun Bach playing. Only when you move through the disc does it becomes apparent that that’s all ...
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ArticleVivaldi: Violin Concertos in B flat major RV370, D minor RV243, E flat major RV254 & E major RV134, Concerto in C major for violin & two cellos RV561, Arias from ‘La costanza trionfante de gl’amori e
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Adrian Chandler (violin/director) Sarah McMahon (cello) Gareth Deats (cello) Mhairi Lawson (soprano) La SerenissimaComposer: VivaldiThis second volume of La Serenissima’s series tracking the rise of the North Italian violin concerto from 1690 to 1740 features a mixture of concerto types by Vivaldi ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op.33 nos.2, 3 & 5
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Párkányí Quartet Composer: HaydnThe Párkányí Quartet finds just the right blend of naivety and Classical poise in Haydn’s Quartet op.33 no.3, with its acciaccatura bird-pecking in the first movement, delightful clipped violin duet in the second movement ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Sonatas in F major op.24 ‘Spring’ & A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’, Rondo in G minor WoO41. Kreisler: Rondino on a theme of Beethoven
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Catherine Leonard (violin) Hugh Tinney (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Kreisler Beethoven was probably simply following convention when he designated his sonatas as ‘for piano and violin’, though the two Irish players here have taken that description as ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in G major K301, E flat major K302, C major K303, E minor K304, A major K305 & D major K306
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Gil Shaham (violin) Orli Shaham (piano) Composer: MozartMozart was 22 when he arrived in Paris in 1778, free of his father’s presence. With his ever-commercial mind, had brought a portfolio of works containing four violin sonatas, to which he ...
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ArticleWebern: Langsamer Satz. Berg: Lyric Suite. Schoenberg: Quartet no.4
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Psophos QuartetComposer: Webern, Berg, Schoenberg While Schoenberg’s Fourth Quartet (1936) is a late flowering of the composer’s strict twelve-note period, the other two works presented here are both to some extent romantic love letters: Webern’s Langsamer Satz, written ...
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ArticleDvorák: Piano Quintet op.81, Bagatelles op.47
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ensemble Explorations, Frank Braley (piano/harmonium)Composer: Dvorák Dvo?ák’s Piano Quintet contains music of many personalities, and Ensemble Explorations is unfailingly responsive to all of them. In the second-movement Dumka, the contrasting sections are clearly delineated, the dances separated by ...
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ArticleAlwyn: Sonata Impromptu, Sonatina, Ballade, Rhapsody, Three Winter Poems, Songs
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Madeleine Mitchell (violin) Roger Chase (viola) Andrew Ball (piano) Iain Burnside (piano) John Turner (recorder) Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone) Bridge QuartetComposer: AlwynWilliam Alwyn was one of the most underrated English masters of the last century. His vast output ranges from ...
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ArticleA Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Turtle Island QuartetComposer: Various The Turtle Island Quartet pays tribute to John Coltrane in this series of highly creative yet sensitive arrangements of his music. The players cover the groundbreaking Love Supreme suite and some of his other best-known tunes, as ...
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ArticleStravinsky: Violin Concerto*, Symphonies of Wind Instruments† , Zvezdoliki‡, Rite of Spring*
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Jennifer Frautschi (violin) Philharmonia Orchestra*, Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble† , Orchestra of St Luke’s‡, Gregg Smith Singers‡, Robert Craft (conductor)Composer: Stravinsky Robert Craft, a one-time and long-time associate of both Schoenberg and Stravinsky, thinks that the Russian ...
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ArticleFrench Pieces. Poulenc: Sonata. Ibert: Four pieces from Histoires (arr. Marechal). Françaix: Five pieces. Ravel: Piece en forme d’habanera. Debussy: Nocturne et Scherzo, Four Songs (arr. Staerk & dam
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Henrik dam Thomsen (cello) Ulrich Staerk (piano)Composer: Poulenc, Ibert, Françaix, Ravel, Debussy, Fauré‘French Pieces’ is the title of this outstanding Danish duo’s debut disc, but there’s none of your Fauré Élégie and Debussy Sonata here. The two have put together an unusual ...
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ArticleJoubert: String Quartet no.2*, Landscapes op.129† , Piano Trio‡, Lyric Fantasy on themes from the opera Jane Eyre op.144¶, Piano Sonatas nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Brodsky Quartet*, David Chadwick (violin)† ‡ Anna Joubert (cello)† ‡ Patricia Rozario (soprano)† Mark Bebbington (piano)† ¶ John McCabe (piano)Composer: Joubert John Joubert, 80 this year, is one of British music’s unsung giants; this double disc of chamber ...
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ArticleRavel: String Quartet in F major. Suk: String Quartet no.1 in B flat major op.11, Allegro giocoso, Meditation on an Old Czech Hymn ‘St Wenceslas’ op.35
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Panocha QuartetComposer: Ravel, Suk Many will want this for the Panocha’s wonderfully relaxed, idiomatic playing of the Ravel (the stylish Assez vif and delicate inner-part solos in the Très lent surely make it a top choice); however, the two ...
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Beethoven: Violin Sonatas in D major op.12 no.1, C minor op.30 & G major op.96
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Peter Cropper (violin) MartinuRoscoe (piano) Composer: BeethovenTwo of England’s most stylistically aware musicians come together for the first volume in a new Beethoven cycle. I constantly nod in agreement with what MartinuRoscoe does at the keyboard, but my reaction to ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor op.9, Berceuse d’Aïtacho Enia op.52, Mythes op.30, Romance op.23, Notturno and Tarantella op.28, Roxana’s Song from King Roger (transcr. Kochanski)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Miriam Kramer (violin) Nicholas Durcan (piano) Composer: SzymanowskiThe performances on this recording are an accurate reflection of the music. At best, they are full of subtle colour and strange, sometimes unsettling atmosphere. Miriam Kramer and Nicholas Durcan are ...
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ArticleMozart: Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin vol.4: Sonatas in G major K9, D major K29, E flat major K302, E minor K304 & A major K526
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Rachel Podger (violin) Gary Cooper (fortepiano)Composer: Mozart This final volume of the set is every bit as good as the other three. It features five sonatas from three different periods of Mozart’s career in period-instrument performances which, as Heather ...
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ArticleSoloists of the Orchestra vol.3. Works by Korngold, Rósza, Boulez, Vivaldi, Mozart, Gould, Elgar etc
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Samuel Magad (violin) Victor Aitay (violin) Frank Miller (cello) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, Jean Martinun, Daniel Barenboim etc (conductors)Composer: Korngold, Rósza, Boulez, Vivaldi, Mozart, Gould, Elgar etc Best known as a film composer, Miklos Rózsa wrote ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Two Romances opp.40 & 50. Spohr: Violin Concerto no.8 in A minor op.47 ‘Wie eine Gesangszene’. Viotti: Violin Concerto no.3 in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Uto Ughi (violin) I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone (conductor)Composer: Beethoven, Spohr, ViottiUto Ughi gives warmly expressive and colourful readings of Beethoven’s two Romances, tender but purposeful and full of temperament. His central section of op.40 is on the measured side but flows ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major. Schumann: Symphony no.4
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Thomas Zehetmair (violin/conductor) Northern SinfoniaComposer: Brahms, SchumannThomas Zehetmair produces a performance of Brahms’s Violin Concerto that is pacy, persuasive and above all wonderfully articulate. For all the pyrotechnics, which are handled with ease, this account is almost conversational in places, as Zehetmair ...
