All Reviews articles – Page 218
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Quintet in F minor op.34, String Sextet in G major op.36
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Isabelle Faust (violin) Veronika Eberle (violin) Hanna Weinmeister (viola) Stefan Fehlandt (viola) Julian Steckel (cello) Gustav Rivinius (cello) Lars Vogt (piano)Composer: Brahms These splendid, well-rehearsed performances from the Heimbach Festival are of more than ...
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ArticleMozart: Piano Trios in E major K542, in C major K548 & in G major K564
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: The Queen’s Chamber TrioComposer: Mozart The Queen’s Chamber Trio’s ‘decidedly revolutionary’ approach to these works, as claimed in the booklet, involves using a harpsichord rather than a fortepiano. While this has some historical credibility, the instrumentarium employed here is ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonata in A major op.69. Chopin: Cello Sonata op.65. Glazunov: Chant du ménestrel. Rubinstein: Mélodie in F (arr. Popper). Offenbach: Les larmes de Jacqueline (arr. Thomas-Mifune). Po
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Richard Harwood (cello) Christoph Berner (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Chopin, Glazunov, Rubinstein, Offenbach, PopperBritish cellist Richard Harwood, winner of the Pierre Fournier award in 2004, made his BBC Radio 3 debut aged 13 playing Elgar’s Concerto, and has studied for four years with Heinrich ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets op.76
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Budapest QuartetComposer: Haydn To have a great chamber ensemble playing six great works is not to be sneezed at. So I have to explain why I would rather be listening to a reissue of a different set of Haydn’s ...
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ArticleDvorák: Piano Trio op.90 ‘Dumky’. Beethoven: Piano Trio op.97 ‘Archduke’
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Guarneri Trio PragueComposer: Dvorák, Beethoven In autumn 2006 the Guarneri Trio celebrated its 20th anniversary: these vital performances handsomely illustrate the trio’s technical excellence, seasoned maturity and colourful musical personalities.The purity and refinement of the Guarneri’s playing can ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Sonata*, Violin Sonata† , Romance and Nocturne from ‘The Gadfly’ (arr. Yablonsky)‡
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Dmitry Yablonsky (cello/conductor) Maxim Fedotov (violin) Ekaterina Saranceva (piano)* Galina Petrova (piano)† Russian Philharmonic Orchestra‡Composer: ShostakovichDmitry Yablonsky offers a wonderfully warm and sensitive performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, first heard in 1934, around the time of the composer’s near-fatal brush with ...
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ArticleReflection. Bartók: Sonata for solo violin. Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor. Ravel: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Bartók, Debussy, RavelIt’s encouraging to see performers embracing the opportunities provided by new technologies. Only a couple of months ago I welcomed Ruth Palmer’s engrossing documentary on Shostakovich which accompanied her Quartz coupling of the First ...
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ArticleBax: Viola Sonata, Legend, Trio in One Movement, Concert Piece
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Laurence Jackson (violin) MartinuOutram (viola) Julian Rolton (piano)Composer: Bax With the Bax violin sonatas already safely under his belt for Naxos (with pianist Ashley Wass), Laurence Jackson returns to the fold alongside MartinuOutram (violist with the Maggini Quartet) ...
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ArticleChopin: Cello Sonata, Introduction and Polonaise brillante. Grieg: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Michal Kanka (cello) Jaromír Klepác (piano)Composer: Chopin, GriegFrom Beethoven onwards the piano has held a pivotal role in shaping the performance in the cello sonata, and neither the Grieg nor the Chopin sonatas are exceptions. In consequence the piano very much drives ...
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ArticleGaluppi: Concerti a quattro
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Ensemble Il FalconeComposer: GaluppiCharles Burney praised Baldassare Galuppi’s skills as a contrapuntist and as ‘a friend to poetry’. These seven ‘Concerti a quattro’ largely endorse Burney’s approbation, incorporating much contrapuntal expertise and expressive lyricism.Ensemble Il Falcone’s interpretations are thoughtfully prepared, even if ...
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ArticleSchop: Hamburger Ratsmusicus
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Simone Eckert (treble viol/director), Hamburger RatsmusikComposer: SchopFrom the 16th century until almost 1800, the music-loving Hanseatic city of Hamburg kept a virtuoso string ensemble of about eight members to perform at religious services and official ceremonies, the Ratsmusik (council musicians). Johann Schop led ...
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ArticleJ.S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001–6
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: John Holloway (violin)Composer: J.S. Bach This is very special indeed. As a distinguished Baroque violinist and Biber interpreter of decades’ standing, John Holloway views the Bach sonatas and partitas as the culmination of a tradition and style, rather than coming to them ...
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ArticleRawsthorne: String Quartets nos.1–4, Theme and Variations for two violins
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Maggini QuartetComposer: Rawsthorne Rawsthorne was not a string player, and listening to these quartets one feels they were conceived for four musical lines rather than for four stringed instruments. It’s rare for them to use any techniques more adventurous than pizzicato, resulting ...
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ArticleThe British Book. Weir: String Quartet. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor op.83. Maxwell Davies: Little Quartets nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Reinhold QuartetComposer: Weir, Elgar, Maxwell DaviesIt is tempting to wonder whether a British ensemble would package together the works of, say, Henze, Stockhausen and Rihm and call it The German Book. There does seem to be a whiff of the exotic in ...
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ArticleIves: String Quartets nos.1 & 2, Scherzo
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Blair QuartetComposer: Ives The Blair Quartet brings many good qualities to Ives’s idiosyncratic quartets, not least the ability to bind their more bizarre aspects together with conviction. There is a muscularity to this playing, emphasised by the clear, dry recording, which aptly ...
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ArticleBacewicz: Violin Sonatas nos.1-5, Partita, Humoreske, Kolysanka, Witraz, Melodia, Two Oberki, Concertino, Caprice, Theme with Variations, Three Dances
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Piotr Plawner (violin) Ewa Kupiec (piano)Composer: Bacewicz The Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz was herself a violinist of distinction, who studied with André Touret and Carl Flesch, as well as mastering composition with Nadia Boulanger. Bacewicz’s ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77, Concerto for violin and cello in A minor op.102
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: David Oistrakh (violin) Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyril Kondrashin (conductor)Composer: BrahmsThe Moscow Philharmonic’s excitable introduction to the Brahms Violin Concerto sets the scene for the whole of this 1963 performance in London’s Royal Festival Hall. David Oistrakh, a very different ...
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ArticleFauré: Violin Sonata in A major op.13 (arr. cello), Elégie op.24, Romance op.69, Papillon op.77, Sérénade op.98, Sicilienne op.78. Duparc: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Anssi Kartunnen (cello) Tuija Hakkila (piano)Composer: Fauré, Duparc Cellists have recently acquired a reputation for being pirates of other instruments’ repertoire. And as nothing is safe, it seems only reasonable that Fauré’s sublime First Violin Sonata should enter the ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartet in B flat op.130, Grosse Fuge in B flat major op.133
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Endellion Quartet Composer: BeethovenThe opening of this extraordinary work – a serenade in excelsis – invites the listener in, as it is played by the great Endellion Quartet. The contrasts in the slow introduction are fully comprehended ...
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ArticleBarber: Violin Concerto op.14. Korngold: Violin Concerto op.35. Walton: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: James Ehnes (violin) Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)Composer: Barber, Korngold, Walton Nearly 79 minutes of wonderful playing: CDs rarely come more generous than this. James Ehnes’s glowing tone and melodic eloquence are nigh-on ideal in these lush works, ...
