Reviews – Page 189
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ArticleTansman: Cello Sonata no.2, Two Pieces, Fantaisie, Partita, Quatre pieces faciles
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Cracow Duo: Jan Kalinowski (cello) Marck Szlezer (piano)Composer: TansmanProlific Polish-turned-French composer Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986) has found ambassadors in the vibrant young Cracow Duo and Polish record label Dux. Tansman, whose glittering career centred on Paris, wrote his Second Cello Sonata (1930) soon ...
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ArticleWieniawski: Violin Concertos no.1 in F sharp minor op.14* & no 2 in D minor op.22†
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Mariusz Patyra (violin) Sinfonia Varsovia/Johannes Wildner*, Sinfonia Iuventus/Gabriel Chmura† Composer: WieniawskiPolish violinist Mariusz Patyra brings much drama, bravura and lyricism to Wieniawski’s two powerful and vastly underrated concertos, particularly to their opening movements, in which his laudable technical assurance and rhythmical control ...
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ArticleWorld Wide Bass. Works by Piazzolla, Tugcular, Hirai, Abou-Khalil, Towner, Lowka, Egilsson & Trad
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Christine Hoock, Glen Moore (double bass) Dietmar Lowka (double bass/percussion) Barbara Nussbaum (piano) Andreas Hinterseher (accordion)Composer: Piazzolla, Tugcular, Hirai, Abou-Khalil, Towner, Lowka, Egilsson & Trad. Ten tracks take us on a highly enjoyable musical journey around the world, Christine Hoock and her ...
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ArticleForgotten Virtuosi. Works by Striggio, Baltzar, Schop, Nau, Castello, Marini etc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Jonathan Talbott (Renaissance violin), Tormod Dalen (bass violin) Maxine Eilander (double harp), Andrew Maginley (theorbo/guitar) Stephen Taylor (organ)Composer: Striggio, Baltzar, Schop, Nau, Castello, Marini etcThis disc comprises an adventurous and engaging programme of violin works from the first half of the 17th ...
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ArticleJoshua Bell – at home with friends. Music by Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Lennon & McCartney, Berlin, Gershwin, etc
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Joshua Bell (violin) & guestsComposer: Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Lennon & McCartney, Berlin, Gershwin, etcJoshua Bell’s many admirers can rest assured that he is at his most tonally lustrous and musically seductive throughout this generous collection of lighter musical fare on the reflective side. ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in C major K296, E minor K304, A major K305 & D major K306
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Duo Amadé: Catherine Mackintosh (violin) Geoffrey Govier (fortepiano)Composer: MozartViolinist Catherine Mackintosh has a balance problem. Not that I expect her to fall over any moment, but in her Bach sonatas she was too forward, edging out harpsichordist Maggie Cole, and here her ...
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ArticlePaganini: 24 Caprices op.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: James Ehnes (violin)Composer: PaganiniIt was a recording of the Paganini caprices that 14 years ago launched the international career of Canadian-born violinist James Ehnes, and he now revisits the score in an equally superb performance.It is a very literal view ...
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ArticlePopper Cello Suite op.69, Three Pieces op.11, Im Walde op.50 Piatigorsky Variations on a Paganini Theme
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Wendy Warner (cello) Eileen Buck (piano)Composer: Popper, PiatigorskyFocusing on the tradition of the virtuoso–composer, Rostropovich pupil Wendy Warner has compiled an intriguing programme, half of which is devoted to original works by the Hungarian cellist David Popper. Although he is better known ...
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ArticleTippett: String Quartets nos.3 & 5
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Tippett QuartetComposer: TippettThis is a superb follow-up to the Tippett Quartet’s first disc of its namesake’s works (reviewed in December 2008). The two quartets here are separated by 45 years, but share a penchant for lyricism combined with a fascination for Beethovenian ...
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ArticleBirth of the String Quartet Vol.1. A. Scarlatti: Sonate a quattro in D minor. Sammartini: Sinfonia per archi in G major. Boccherini: String Quartet in C minor op.2 no.1. Haydn: String Quartet in D min
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Casal QuartetComposer: A. Scarlatti, Boccherini, Haydn, MozartThe Casal Quartet has proven expertise in 20th-century repertoire and introduces modern techniques and interpretative approaches into its accounts of these five fledgling Classical string quartets, employing vibrato in abundance. However, its members’ use of four ...
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ArticleMeyer: String Quartets no.5 op.42, no.6 op.51 & no.8 op.67
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Wieniawski QuartetComposer: MeyerThe Wieniawski Quartet features front-desk performers whose mutual understanding has matured over eleven years, and whose name (honouring Poland’s greatest violin virtuoso) sets them daunting challenges to which they rise effortlessly. It is led by Jaroslaw ?olnierczyk, concertmaster of the ...
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ArticleCaroline Goulding. Music by Kreisler, Corigliano, Schoenfield, Vieuxtemps & Gershwin, Traditional Cape Breton Island Fiddling*
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Caroline Goulding (violin) Christopher O’Riley, Janine Randall* (piano)Composer: Kreisler, Corigliano, Schoenfield, Vieuxtemps & Gershwin, Traditional Cape Breton Island Fiddling* Every now and then a violinist emerges – Caroline Goulding is still only 16 years of age – who not only has much ...
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ArticleSchubert: Complete Works for Violin and Piano vol.1: Violin Sonatas in D major D384, A minor D385 & G minor D408; Rondo brillant in B minor D895
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin) MartinuHelmchen (piano)Composer: Schubert We seem to have said goodbye for ever to the cuddly image of Schubert. And a good thing too, some may say. These splendid performances, perhaps the best of the current bunch, are definitely German rather ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.1 op.107. Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme op.33
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Kim Cook (cello) Volgograd Symphony Orchestra/Edward SerovComposer: Shostakovich, TchaikovskyThis CD of tried and tested repertoire offers precious few musical insights and at 50 minutes duration represents rather poor value. The Shostakovich is particularly disappointing, suffering from a lacklustre recording with a rather ...
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ArticleSinding: Music for Violin and Piano vol.1: Suite im alten Stil op.10, Waltzes op.59 (excerpts), Cantus doloris op.78, Romance in D major op.79 no.2, Four Pieces op.81 nos.1 & 2, Three Pieces op.89 nos
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)Composer: SindingIn his Norwegian homeland, Christian Sinding (1856–1941) is a major figure whose latest symphonies, operas, concertos and chamber works were once awaited with eager anticipation. Yet for many years the only piece by which he ...
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ArticleStamitz: Cello Concertos no.1 in G major & no.2 in A major, Sinfonia concertante in D major for violin, viola and orchestra*
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ulrich Grehling (violin) Ulrich Koch (viola) Zoltan Ròcz (cello) Cappella Coloniensis/Günther Wich, Marcel Couraud*Composer: StamitzThe 18th-century Mannheim bigwig Carl Stamitz certainly produced well-crafted and pleasantly melodious music, but on the evidence of this disc offers very little that really sticks in the ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: String Quartets no.1 in D major op.11 & no. 2 in F major op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Utrecht QuartetComposer: TchaikovskyThe soulful and perfectly shaded opening of the D major Quartet, followed by impetuosity in the big and thrusting central theme, are indicative of the wide ranging mood changes and intensity of the Utrecht Quartet’s performance as a whole.The unaffected ...
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ArticleWard: Fantasias and In nomines for five and six viols
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Phantasm, Emilia Benjamin (tenor viol) Mikko Perkola (bass viol)Composer: WardOxford-based viol consort Phantasm, with several award-winning discs already behind it, turns its attention now to the music of John Ward. Born in the reign of Elizabeth I, Ward never held a court ...
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ArticleBach: Violin Sonatas and Partitas BWV1001–6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) The young Russian-born Alina Ibragimova has placed her approach to Bach’s mercilessly revealing Sonatas and Partitas between the warmth of Itzhak Perlman (EMI) and the clean and unadorned sound of Rachel Podger’s Baroque instrument (Channel Classics). Notable among ...
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ArticleHaydn: 6 Sonatas for Violin and Viola (Hob.VI:1–6)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anton Steck (violin) Christian Goosses (viola) Composer: HaydnAnton Steck and Christian Goosses bring much vitality and refined musicianship to these performances, captured here in a clear and resonant recording. One’s pleasure remains undisturbed by the ‘balance of power’ in ...
