Reviews – Page 122
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ReviewThe Club Album
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Mutter and friends live from DG’s Yellow LoungeMusicians: Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) Lambert Orkis (piano) Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord) Mutter’s VirtuosiIt may come as a surprise to find Anne-Sophie Mutter releasing a live disc and DVD from a Berlin nightclub. Yet here is the ...
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ReviewCello Concertos, Sonatas & Suites. Works by Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud and Schumann
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Collected performances by a legendary Canadian cellistMusicians: Zara Nelsova (cello) Artur Balsam, Lothar Broddack (pianos) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Georg Ludwig Jochum, Gerd AlbrechtComposer: Bach, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dvorák, Kabalevsky, Milhaud, SchumannThe greatest cellist to come out of the Americas (see ‘Great Cellists’, ...
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ReviewBound to Nothing: The German Stylus Fantasticus. Sonatas and works by Buxtehude, Erlebach, Krieger, Kühnel and Walther
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Dutch trio takes on German Baroque ‘fantastic’ sonatasMusicians: FantasticusComposer: Buxtehude, Erlebach, Krieger, Kühnel, Walther‘Instituted to display genius’, remarked an early commentator on the extrovert Baroque string style recorded here, and he left open the question of whether he or the stylus fantasticus ...
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ReviewVivaldi: The Four Seasons. Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor ‘The Devil’s Trill’. Leclair: Violin Sonata in D major ‘Tambourin’
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: A calmer, cooler version of Vivaldi’s seasonal concertosMusicians: James Ehnes (violin/director) Andrew Armstrong (piano) Sydney Symphony OrchestraComposer: Vivaldi, Tartini, LeclairThis might be the ideal antidote to Nigel Kennedy’s new, rebooted Four Seasons (see above), with its general disregard, healthy or otherwise, for ...
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ReviewSchumann: Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Romantic sonatas in performances by two YCA prizewinnersMusicians: Noé Inui (violin) Vassilis Varvaresos (piano)Composer: Schumann, StraussThis disc is proof that first impressions can be misleading. One might wince at the simplistic sleeve captioning of these composers as the ‘first’ and ‘last’ of ...
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ReviewSchubert: Quartettsatz in C minor D703; String Quartet no.15 in G major D887
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Schubert’s quartet masterpieces on historic instrumentsMusicians: Terpsycordes QuartetComposer: SchubertThis package comprises Schubert’s first mature quartet movement and his massive final essay in the genre. The Terpsycordes’ major selling point is its use of a matching set of gut-strung ‘period’ instruments made by ...
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ReviewE. Firsova: For Slava; Homage to Canisy; Lost Vision; Meditation in the Japanese Garden; Night Songs; Spring Sonata; Tender Is the Sorrow; Three Poems of Osip Mandelstam; A Triple Portrait
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Premiere recordings of the captivating, profound music of Elena FirsovaMusicians: Marsyas TrioComposer: E. FirsovaBorn in 1950, Elena Firsova was already widely recognised as one of the rising stars of Soviet music by her mid-twenties. Fiercely independent, she and a number of her ...
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ReviewAlla Czeca. Dvorák: String Quartet no.13 in G major. Schulfhoff: Five Pieces. Suk: Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale ‘St Wenceslaus’
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Infectious performances of three Czech works for string quartetMusicians: Signum QuartetComposer: Dvorák, Schulhoff, SukThe Signum Quartet has a penchant for themed programmes on its CDs, and this well-planned and sensitively recorded (if concise) recital of under an hour’s music surveys three decades ...
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ReviewForgotten Vienna. Dittersdorf: Concerto in C major for two violins. Ordonez: Sinfonia in C major. Vanhal: Violin Concerto in B flat major; Symphony in A minor; Requiem in E flat major
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Musical archaeology uncovers worthwhile 18th-century concertosMusicians: George Clifford, Dominika Fehér (violins) Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; Amadè Players/Nicholas NewlandComposer: Dittersdorf, Ordonez, VanhalReaders of The Strad will doubtless be most interested in the two violin concertos included in this programme of 18th-century ...
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ReviewBrahms: ‘Double’ Concerto in A minor for violin and cello. Prokofiev: Symphony-Concerto in E minor
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Natalia Gutman, friends and family in live Moscow recordingsMusicians: Natalia Gutman (cello) Oleg Kagan (violin) USSR State Academic SO/Yevgeny Svetlanov, Alexander LazarevComposer: Brahms, ProkofievNatalia Gutman has everything going for her except a large tone, and on record this deficiency can be offset. ...
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ReviewMetamorfora: Works for Double Bass and Piano. Beethoven: Variations on ‘Bei Männern’. Boccherini: Sonata no.6 in A minor. Oswald: Sonata in E minor. Proto: Nine Variants on Paganini. Salllinen: Metam
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Four transcriptions for bass – but the original work comes off bestMusicians: Marcos Machado (double bass) Ney Fialkow (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Boccherini, Oswald, Proto, SallinenMarcos Machado’s first recorded performance, on Tarik O’Regan’s Threshold of Night, was twice Grammy-nominated, and his first solo effort ...
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ReviewMynstrelles with Straunge Sounds: Music by Encina, Josquin, Martini and others
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Reconstructed 16th-century instruments take on early consort worksMusicians: Clare Wilkinson (mezzo-soprano) Rose Consort of ViolsComposer: Encina, Josquin, Martinu and othersThis recording takes us right back to the earliest days of the 16th century, when the viol consort had just become the latest ...
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ReviewTelemann: Sonatas for violin and basso continuo TWV41: G major G1, G minor g1, A minor a1, D minor d5, D minor d6, E minor e8, G major G10; Fantasia no.9 in B minor for solo violin TWV40:22
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Alert readings of a handful of Telemann’s accompanied sonatasMusicians: Arsenale Sonoro: Boris Begelman (violin) Ludovico Minasi (cello) Alexandra Koreneva (harpsichord)Composer: TelemannBoris Begelman offers highly accomplished readings of seven of Telemann’s sonatas for violin and basso continuo, four of which are claimed to ...
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ReviewBach: Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord: no.1 in G major BWV1027, no.2 in D major BWV1028, no.3 in G minor BWV1029
The Strad Issue: January 2016Description: First double bass recordings of Bach’s three gamba sonatasMusicians: Richard Hartshorne (double bass) Daniel Sedgwick (harpsichord)Composer: BachRichard Hartshorne is perhaps a little too self-effacing for his own good. In his booklet notes, he justifies his premiere double bass recording of Bach’s sonatas ...
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ReviewPleyel: Violin Concerto in D major; Symphony in F major. Vanhal: Symphony in G major
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Rediscovered works by lesser-known contemporaries of Haydn and MozartMusicians: Sebastian Bohren (violin) Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto/Luca BizzozeroComposer: Pleyel, VanhalSebastian Bohren seems surprisingly laid-back in his approach to Pleyel’s Violin Concerto. Nevertheless, he performs the work with style, vitality and ...
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ReviewBacewicz: Complete String Quartets Vol.2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Polish players complete survey of their compatriot’s quartetsMusicians: Lutoslawski QuartetComposer: BacewiczIt might seem churlish to compare this fine release unfavourably with its predecessor, vol.1 of the Lutoslawski Quartet’s complete Bacewicz string quartet survey (reviewed in October 2015). It’s undoubtedly down ...
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ReviewNielsen: Violin Concerto. Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor; Two Serenades
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Exceptional playing, if a little muted, in concertos by two anniversariansMusicians: Baiba Skride (violin) Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Santtu-Matias RouvaliComposer: Nielsen, SibeliusSibelius’s Violin Concerto offers a great variety of interpretative possibilities (see this month’s article), and in this release the Tampere Philharmonic, under ...
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ReviewThe New Four Seasons. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: It’s The Four Seasons, but not as we know itMusicians: Nigel Kennedy (violin)Composer: VivaldiHow do you like your Vivaldi? Classic, like the several recordings by I Musici, or fiercely ‘authentic’, like Adrian Chandler’s recent disc (see November issue)? Cool like ...
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ReviewHahn: Violin Sonata in C major; Romance in A major; Nocturne in E flat major. Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor; Nocturne and Tarantella
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: An ‘odd couple’ of composers receive warm-hearted performances Musicians: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: Hahn, SzymanowskiTamsin Waley-Cohen launches into Szymanowski’s Sonata with gusto, her bow rasping on the string in the composer’s passionate flights, her sound meltingly beautiful and fragile in ...
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ReviewPurcell: 12 Sonatas of Three Parts
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Italian influences in Purcell’s very English trio sonatasMusicians: King’s ConsortComposer: PurcellIn the preface to his first set of 12 Sonatas – published in 1683 when he was only 24 – Purcell modestly declared that he had ‘faithfully endeavour’d a just ...
