All Reviews articles – Page 214
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ArticleBartók: String Quartet no.5. Hindemith: String Quartet no.4
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Zehetmair QuartetComposer: Bartók, Hindemith The opening movement of Bartók’s Fifth Quartet is one of the most uncompromisingly savage moments in chamber music, and the Zehetmair Quartet tears into this nightmare scenario with brutal vitality. The utter feeling of desolation in ...
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ArticleDances. Works by Cassadó, Granados, Vynnytsky, Brahms, Chopin, Bartók & Falla
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Natalia Khoma (cello) Volovymyr Vynnytsky (piano)Composer: Cassadó, Granados, Vynnytsky, Brahms, Chopin, Bartók & Falla There’s plenty of attractive foot-tapping material here from the Ukrainian-born cellist Natalia Khoma. Most of the dances are transcriptions utilising virtuoso techniques, many of which are ...
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Article
Holst: Concerto for two violins, St Paul’s Suite, Brook Green Suite, A Song of the Night, Lyric Movement, A Fugal Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Janice Graham (violin) Sarah Ewins (violin) Andriy Viytovych (viola) Anna Pyne (flute) Philip Harmer (oboe) English Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths (conductor) Composer: HolstHolst was a great believer in giving children contemporary and challenging music to play and it is testimony to the ...
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ArticleWalton: Viola Concerto. Rubbra: Viola Concerto, Meditations on a Byzantine Hymn
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Lawrence Power (viola) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor)Composer: Walton, Rubbra Lady Walton once related that following a performance of her husband’s Viola Concerto given by Lionel Tertis in Worcester, Walton happened upon Elgar – never a fan ...
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ArticleGubaidulina: Rejoice! Silenzio, In Croce
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Telesto TrioComposer: Gubaidulina There’s no sense of the miniature about these works, however exiguous their textures. More than simple faith, a fine ear and sense of timing lends them an imposing aspect even when spun from a single note. ...
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ArticleSculthorpe: From Irkanda III, Irkanda I, From Saibai, Djilile, Night Song, Mountains, Night Pieces, Little Passacaglia, Sometimes when I’m Dreaming, Four Little Pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ema Alexeeva (violin) David Apellániz (cello) Ananda Sukarlen (piano) Composer: SculthorpeIt is surprising that the music of the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe has not made more inroads into the standard repertoire: this disc spanning 50 years of his ...
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ArticleTartini: Violin Concertos in E major D50, in A major D96, in G major D80, in B minor D125 & in D major D28
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ariadne Daskalakis (violin) Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Müller-Brühl (conductor)Composer: Tartini Ariadne Daskalakis here introduces two premiere recordings of violin concertos by Tartini (D28 and D50). Tartini’s solo parts demand technical virtuosity that is daring in its inventiveness and subtle ...
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Article
Brahms: String Quartets in C minor op.51 no.1, in A minor op.51 no.2 & in B flat major op.67, Piano Quintet in F minor op.34
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Emerson Quartet, Leon Fleisher (piano) Composer: BrahmsThe Emerson Quartet takes a generally severe view of Brahms’s three quartets. From the beginning of the C minor there is a sense of steely purpose, with clipped staccato quavers and a driving pace. ...
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ArticleCage: Solo for cello, 59½ seconds, Atlas eclipticalis, Variations 1, Études boreales
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Friedrich Gauwerky (cello)Composer: Cage Only the two minutes of Variations 1 are credited as being a version ‘by Gauwerky’, but nearly all of the music on this disc demands him to be as much composer as performer. For ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2, Nocturne and Tarantella
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ilya Kaler (violin), Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit (conductor) Composer: SzymanowskiSzymanowski’s violin concertos were composed 17 years apart, in 1916 and 1933. The First belongs to the feverishly productive period which also yielded the dazzling Mythes for violin ...
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ArticleBach: Suites for Solo Cello BWV1007–12 (plus variants of Prelude to Suite no.1). Trad: Song of the Birds (arr. Beamish)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Steven Isserlis (cello)Composer: Bach, TradSteven Isserlis nearly always casts new light on the repertoire he chooses, and these Bach suites are a long-awaited milestone in his career.There’s no question that they are worth the wait – they are fervent, eloquent and unmistakeably ...
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ArticleBartók: String quartets nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: bène QuartetComposer: Bartók For nearly a century composers failed to respond to the painfully introspective soul-searching of Beethoven’s late string quartets – until, that is, Bartók produced his First Quartet in 1908, memorably described by his friend ...
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ArticleDohnányi: Serenade in C major for string trio op.10, String Quartet no.2 in D flat major op.15, Sextet for piano, horn, clarinet and string trio op.37
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Beethoven Trio, Kocian Quartet, Jaromir Klepác (piano), Ales Hustoles (clarinet), Vladimíra Klánská (horn)Composer: Dohnányi Erno Dohnányi is still best remembered for his entrancing Variations on a Nursery Theme for piano and orchestra. Yet a few years ago several ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas in G major op.78, in A major op.100 & in D minor op.108; ‘FAE’ Scherzo in C minor
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Nikolaj Znaider (violin) Yefim Bronfman (piano)Composer: Brahms These beautiful performances, excellently recorded, make up a very satisfying recital, as the three sonatas have a cumulative effect and the players seem to become more assured, with Brahms and with each other, as they ...
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ArticleMozart: Serenade in D major K185 (Andretter), Divertimento in E flat major K113, March K189, Rondo in C major K373, Adagio in E major K261, Rondo concertante in B flat major K269
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Alexander Janiczek (violin/director) Scottish Chamber OrchestraComposer: MozartRecorded in a warm, reverberant church acoustic, this disc features elegant and polished accounts of two of Mozart’s ‘Salzburg’ serenades (K113 and K185) and three of his single-movement works for violin and orchestra.Mozart’s Serenade ...
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ArticleGlazunov: String Quintet in A major op.39; Five Novelettes op.15
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Nathaniel Rosen (cello) Composer: GlazunovGlazunov’s Violin Concerto in A minor remains one of his most popular pieces. But the two works on this disc prove how capable a chamber music composer he also was. The Novelettes, a suite of ...
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ArticleSchubert: String Quartets in G major D887 & in G minor D173
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Mandelring QuartetComposer: Schubert What Schubert achieved in his brief life never ceases to amaze, yet even within this short space of time, his style developed hugely. This is particularly evident on this marvellously recorded SACD of two of his ...
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ArticleWieniawski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor op.22. Bacewicz: Concerto for Orchestra. Penderecki: Agnus Dei
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Wojciech Plawner (violin), Beethoven Academy Orchestra/Pawel PrzytockiComposer: Wieniawski, Bacewicz, Penderecki Wieniawski’s D minor Concerto has been especially lucky on disc. The scorching intensity and fizzing virtuosity of Michael Rabin’s classic 1960 account (currently out of the catalogue) still take some beating, ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Sonata no.2, Sonata for solo violin, Contrasts
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Annar Follesø (violin) Christian Ihle Hadland (piano) Björn Nyman (clarinet)Composer: Bartók There is a Nordic chill to these performances that is entirely foreign to the picture of Bartók I have built up over the past half century.I ...
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ArticleScott: Violin Concerto, Festival Overture, Aubade op.77, Three Symphonic Dances op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Olivier Charlier (violin) BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)Composer: Scott At the outset of the 20th century Cyril Scott was much admired by the music establishment as a progressive modernist, but his lack of stylistic development soon found him loosing ...
