Reviews – Page 132
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ReviewFrench Violin Sonatas. Lekeu: Violin Sonata in G major. Ravel: Violin Sonata Movement in A minor. Fauré: Violin Sonata no.1 in A major op.13
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: February 2015Description: An inspiring sonata triptych from an expert duoMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) MartinuRoscoe (piano)Composer: Lekeu, Ravel, FauréIf Fauré’s entire output could be encapsulated in just one word it would be ‘tendresse’. The inspired teaming of Tasmin Little and MartinuRoscoe fully captures ...
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ReviewBritten: Cello Suites nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: February 2015Description: Immaculate but eloquent recordings of Britten’s solo cello suitesMusicians: Olivier Marron (cello)Composer: BrittenIt may well be true, as the composer David Matthews has suggested, that Britten’s three cello suites are the most important solo cello music since Bach. There’s no ...
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ReviewLittle Dipper
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A young jazz violinist celebrates the legacy of GrappelliMusicians: Nora Germain (violin/vocals) Will Pierce (double bass) Ed Kornhauser (piano) Ryan Shaw (drums)Composer: JazzAt just 23, West Coast violinist Nora Germain is a new name in jazz violin circles, which is not obvious ...
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ReviewBarrocco Español. Works by de Murcia, Soler, Boccherini, Brunetti, D. Scarlatti, Sanz, de Nebra & Anon
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: The somewhat frugal fruits of a search for Spanish Baroque viola musicMusicians: Nils Mönkemeyer (viola) Klaus-Dieter Brandt (cello) Thomas Zscherpe (double bass) Sabine Erdmann (harpsichord) Andreas Arend (guitar/theorbo) Anja Hermann (percussion)Composer: de Murcia, Soler, Boccherini, Brunetti, D. Scarlatti, Sanz, de NebraThe first ...
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ReviewVivaldi: Concerto in G minor for two cellos and orchestra RV531 Vivaldi: (arr. two cellos, Lloyd Webber) Concertos in G major for two mandolins RV532, for cello in E minor RV409, for oboe and bassoon
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A final recording from a forcibly retired master of the celloMusicians: Julian Lloyd Webber, Jiaxin Lloyd Webber (cello) European Union Chamber Orchestra/Hans-Peter HofmannComposer: Vivaldi, PiazzollaThere is only one extant concerto by Vivaldi for two cellos, but Julian Lloyd Webber has very successfully ...
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ReviewStravinsky: Violin Concerto in D major. Arrieu: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Welcome revival of a forgotten violinist in 1950s French radio recordingsMusicians: Jeanne Gautier (violin) RTF National Orchestra/Jacques Pernoo, Eugène BigotComposer: Stravinsky, ArrieuThe marvellous violinist Jeanne Gautier (1898–1974) has long languished in undeserved oblivion. A superb virtuoso who embodied a quintessentially Gallic blend ...
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ReviewSomis: Violin Sonatas op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Lively performances of music by a little-known but key 18th-century composerMusicians: Kreeta-Maria Kentala (violin) Lauri Pulakka (cello) Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord)Composer: SomisAs a pupil of Corelli and teacher of Pugnani and some of the 18th century’s leading French violinist–composers, Giovanni Battista Somis (1686–1763) ...
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ReviewSchnittke: String Trio Weinberg: String Trio. Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages (excerpts) Penderecki: String Trio
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Stylish performances that lack interpretative fireMusicians: Ensemble EpomeoComposer: Schnittke, Kurtág, PendereckiFor its second disc – generously filled, and rewardingly programmed – string trio Ensemble Epomeo focuses on music composed in Eastern Europe and Russia in the late 20th century, playing with a ...
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ReviewHaydn: String Quartets op.20
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Modern-instrument Haydn performed with period sensitivitiesMusicians: Doric QuartetComposer: HaydnListening to the Doric Quartet’s excellent op.20 set, one is struck by Haydn’s inventiveness. This is indeed visceral and subversive music, and this admirable group brings out all these tendencies beautifully. As I suggested ...
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ReviewChamber Music from the Dresden Court. Handel: Trio Sonatas in G minor HWV393 & E major HWV394. Fux: Trio Sonata in A major K340. Fasch: Trio Sonata in D major. Telemann: Trio Sonata in E flat major fr
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A surfeit of ornamentation mars an otherwise worthwhile collectionMusicians: Ensemble DiderotComposer: Handel, Fux, Fasch, Telemann, TumaIn this resonant, appropriately balanced recording, period-instrument Ensemble Diderot performs a selection of trio sonatas by composers who had associations with the Dresden court. Three world premiere ...
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ReviewFranck: Violin Sonata in A major. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major op.18
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Largely successful accounts of two Romantic sonatasMusicians: Arabella Steinbacher (violin) Robert Kulek (piano)Composer: Franck, StraussFew works are so crucially dependent on those magical places between and behind the notes of a written score being fully explored as Franck’s chromatically superheated yet at ...
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ReviewColours of the Heart. Debussy: Violin Sonata. Delius: Violin Sonata no.3. Ravel: Violin Sonata. Grieg: Songs (arr. Sauret)
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Sensitive accounts of music full of sensual allureMusicians: Midori Komachi (violin) Simon Callaghan (piano)Composer: Debussy, Delius, Ravel, GriegDebussy’s Violin Sonata tantalisingly fuses stream-of-consciousness sensuality with structural and gestural Classical norms. Midori Komachi leans more towards the former, characterising the composer’s episodic asides ...
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ReviewCooke: Violin Sonata no.2, Viola Sonata, Cello Sonata no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Music from a largely forgotten contemporary of Tippett and RubbraMusicians: Susanne Stanzeleit (violin) Morgan Goff (viola) Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Raphael Terroni (piano)Composer: CookeYorkshire-born Arnold Cooke (1906–2005) studied for three years in Berlin with Paul Hindemith and wrote six symphonies as well as ...
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ReviewBoulez: Anthèmes I. Ysaÿe: Solo Sonatas nos.2 & 4. Sciarrino: 6 Capricci. Widmann: Etudes nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Violin wizardry in a recital that plays off works from different eras against each otherMusicians: Carolin Widmann (violin)Composer: Boulez, Ysaÿe, Sciarrino, Widmann Response to Carolin Widmann’s Ysaÿe is inevitably coloured by the modern works that surround it – maybe her own playing ...
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ReviewBach: Six Cello Suites BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Refreshingly understated accounts of Bach’s suitesMusicians: Viola de Hoog (cello)Composer: BachVersatile Dutch cellist Viola de Hoog offers substantially introverted accounts of Bach’s suites. Some characteristics of her mentor, Anner Bylsma, shine through her stylish interpretations, but her fertile musical imagination and detailed, ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Searching and haunting accounts of Shostakovich’s two concertosMusicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/John StorgŠrdsComposer: ShostakovichChristian Tetzlaff might have been born to play the Shostakovich concertos. His questing spirit, penetrating tonal inflections and clarity of vision are ideally suited to ...
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ReviewWalton: Cello Concerto, Passacaglia for cello solo. Hindemith: Cello Concerto (1940), Sonata for solo cello
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A highly satisfying coupling of two composers’ music for celloMusicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) SÁo Paolo Symphony Orchestra/Frank ShipwayComposer: Walton, HindemithChristian Poltéra is at the top of his game in these works by two composers whose friendship lasted much of their ...
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ReviewJanácek: Violin Sonata, Dumka, Romance, Allegro. Suk: Four Pieces op.17. Dvorák: Romantic Pieces op.75, Nocturne op.40
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A rewarding recital of highways and byways of Czech violin musicMusicians: Jennifer Pike (violin) Tom Poster (piano)Composer: Janácek, Suk, DvorákLaunching this coherent Czech collection, Jennifer Pike skilfully and imaginatively balances the Romantic and modernist elements in Janácek’s Violin Sonata, as ...
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ReviewViolino 1: Austrian Violin Music c.1680. Anonymous Austrian violin works
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A highly successful endeavour to give life to the music of forgotten 17th-century composersMusicians: Veronika Skuplik (Baroque violin) Evangelina Mascardi (lute)Composer: AnonymousThis label’s aims, to offer young artists a platform and make accessible lesser-known early music repertoire, are amply fulfilled in this ...
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ReviewPolish Cello Music. Works by Lutoslawski, Bujarski, H. Jablonski, Tansman, Meyer, M. Jablonski, Hans & Penderecki
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Vivid playing in works written for different numbers of cellosMusicians: Jan Kalinowski, Beata Urbanek-Kalinowska, Anna Armatys-Borrelli, Karolina Jaroszewska, Marcin MÄ…czyŠ„ski, Franciszek Pall, Michal MichaŠ‚ DÄ…bek, Monika Gernot, Marta Nagawiecka, Aleksandra Lelek (cello)Composer: Lutoslawski, Bujarski, H. Jablonski, TansmanIt’s hard to have too many ...
