Reviews – Page 123
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ReviewP. Gregson: Touch
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Late-night cello consolation – but is it spiritual or soporific?Musicians: Peter Gregson (cello)Composer: Gregson‘Something lush with lots of despair’ was Peter Gregson’s aim for his second album, not counting his soundtrack for A Little Chaos. Job done, I’d say. Even the mock-Baroque ...
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ReviewBiber: Rosary Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2016Description: Podger and friends are the ideal guides to Biber’s mysterious sonatasMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin) David Miller (theorbo/archlute) Jonathan Manson (cello/viola da gamba) Marcin ŠšwiÄ…tkiewicz (harpsichord/organ)Composer: BiberThe weird and the wonderful combine to compelling effect in Biber’s Rosary Sonatas. And Rachel ...
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ReviewInspiration. Dvorák: Serenade for Strings. Herbert: Yesterthoughts; Punchinello; Ghazel SUK Serenade for Strings; Love Song (arr. Schmidt)
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A new German ensemble is persuasive in mainly Czech musicMusicians: Metamorphosen Berlin/Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt (cello/director)Composer: Dvorák, HerbertJosef Suk’s Serenade for Strings is still cast in the role of Cinderella to the more popular works of that title by Tchaikovsky and Dvorák, which ...
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ReviewDuke: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata; Etude for violin and bassoon; Hommage to Offenbach; Capriccio méxicano
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Broadway tunesmith turns to ‘serious’ music – with mixed resultsMusicians: Elmira Darvarova (violin) Kim Laskowski (bassoon) ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna/Scott Dunn (conductor/piano)Composer: DukeAll goes well until the final movement of Vernon Duke’s 1941 Violin Concerto, where he defaults to polystylistic ‘tema ...
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ReviewViola Dolorosa. Britten: Elegy; Lachrymae. Seabourne: PietÁ
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A finely wrought new addition to the viola and piano repertoireMusicians: Georg Hamann (viola) Akari Komiya (piano)Composer: Britten, SeabourneThe three compositions united under this recital’s somewhat masochistic title variously explore the mood of ‘deep sadness’ that Berlioz singled out as the viola’s ...
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ReviewBrahms: String Quartets op.51: no.1 in C minor, no.2 in A minor; In stiller Nacht
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A faithful approach to the score mutes the drama of Brahms’s op.51Musicians: Quiroga QuartetComposer: BrahmsOver the years, Brahms’s first two string quartets have become tarnished with so much ‘interpretative insight’ that the Quiroga Quartet’s unaffected performance of the C minor Quartet at ...
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ReviewThe Sonatas. Brahms: Cello Sonata no.1 in E minor (transc. de Groot). Gubaidulina: Double Bass Sonata. Hindemith: Double Bass Sonata. Vasks: Solo Double Bass Sonata
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Brahms on the bass – at pitch! – and three more recent worksMusicians: Niek de Groot (double bass) Catherine Klipfel (piano)Composer: Brahms, Gubaidulina, Hindemith, VasksAs his thoughtful message in the booklet states, Niek de Groot’s career was forged on the idea that ...
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ReviewBrahms: Cello Sonatas: no.1 in E minor op.38; no.2 in F major op.99; Six Lieder (transc. Schwabe/Rimmer)
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Speedy traversals of the cello sonatas don’t delve below the surfaceMusicians: Gabriel Schwabe (cello) Nicholas Rimmer (piano)Composer: BrahmsThis recording of Brahms’s cello sonatas enters a crowded field but offers precious few insights. That said, the choice of song arrangements is judicious, as ...
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ReviewPhantasie. Brahms: Cello Sonata in E flat major op.120 no.2. Reger: Adagio from Suite no.1 for solo cello; Largo from Suite no.2 for solo cello. Schubert: Fantasie in C major D934; Sonatina in G minor
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Wispelwey embarks on the complete duos of Brahms and SchubertMusicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Paolo Giacometti (piano)Composer: Brahms, Reger, SchubertIt is inevitable that the status of ‘arrangements’ and ‘transcriptions’ of canonic works remains questionable to many, even when undertaken by a player ...
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ReviewBeethoven: ‘Triple’ Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra op.56; Overtures: The Creatures of Prometheus; Egmont; Coriolan
The Strad Issue: December 2015Description: A ‘Triple’ that treads the line between old and new stylesMusicians: Giuliano Carmignola (violin) Sol Gabetta (cello) Dejan Lazić (piano) Basel Chamber Orchestra/Giovanni AntoniniComposer: BeethovenIt is becoming increasingly clear that we live in interesting times as regards the performance of historical music. ...
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ReviewAlvorada: Music by Falla, Granados, Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos and others
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Gaillard crosses the Atlantic to explore Latin American stylesMusicians: Ophélie Gaillard (cello) and friendsComposer: Falla, Granados, Piazzolla, Villa-LobosThis sumptuously packaged release on the elegant, niche French label Aparté is an ambitious undertaking: over 100 minutes of music across two discs, ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartets: no.2 in A minor, no.3 in D major; Four Pieces: nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Intimacy and unanimity as the Escher’s Mendelssohn cycle continuesMusicians: Escher QuartetComposer: MendelssohnEven if you’re no fan of Mendelssohn, you’ll probably – to borrow Beecham’s quip about the English not liking music – like the noise it makes on this disc. ...
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ReviewFauré: Violin Sonata no.1 in A major. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: December 2015Description: Two lifetimes’ experience shines through in these players’ first studio meetingMusicians: Itzhak Perlman (violin) Emanuel Ax (piano)Composer: Fauré, StraussThere are a number of Romantic violin sonatas that work well together in a pairing, by dint of either their similarities or ...
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ReviewNel Giardino di Partenope. 18th-century Neapolitan cello sonatas by Alborea, Greco, Lanzetti, Pergolesi, Pericoli, Porpora, Ruvo and Supriani
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Forgotten sonatas from the heyday of the cello’s developmentMusicians: Gaetano Nasillo (cello) Sara Bennici (cello) Michele Barchi (harpsichord); bonus disc features Neapolitan concertos performed by Nasillo with Ensemble 415/Chiara BanchiniComposer: Alborea, Greco, Lanzetti, Pergolesi, Pericoli, Porpora, Ruvo and SuprianiThis anthology comprises Neapolitan ...
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ReviewCristal. Tangos by Aguirrezabalaga, Bianco/Melfi, Dames, Delfino, Firpo, Fresedo, Guidini, Martínez/Buglione, Mores, Piana, Piazzolla, Scalise and Villanueva
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Tangos arranged for a German quartet of violin, cello, piano and bandoneónMusicians: SolTango QuartetComposer: Aguirrezabalaga, Bianco/Melfi, Dames, Delfino, Firpo, Fresedo, Guidini, Martínez/Buglione, Mores, Piana, Piazzolla, Scalise, VillanuevaThree members of this German tango quartet met while studying in Lübeck, a long way physically ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Violin Concerto no.2 in G minor op.63, Sonata in C major for two violins op.56, Solo Violin Sonata in D major op.115
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Spontaneous-sounding live Prokofiev whets the appetite for moreMusicians: Viktoria Mullova, Tedi Papavrami (violin) Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Paavo JärviComposer: ProkofievThese live recordings derive from concerts taped by Hessian Radio in Frankfurt over the past three years, and if one would never guess the ...
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ReviewKraggerud: Equinox
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Around the world in 24 pieces – and all 24 major and minor keysMusicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin/leader) Arctic Philharmonic Chamber OrchestraComposer: KraggerudNorwegian violinist and composer Henning Kraggerud’s latest disc takes some explaining. It’s a collaboration with Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder, author of ...
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ReviewMetamorphoses. Haydn: String Quartet in C major op.54 no.2. Ligeti: String Quartet no. 1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’. Brahms: Intermezzos: in A minor op.116 no.2 (arr. Judith van Driel), in E major op.1
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Austro–Hungarian connections for a Dutch quartet’s debut discMusicians: Dudok QuartetComposer: Haydn, Ligeti, Brahms (arr. Judith van Driel and David Faber)According to the booklet notes, the Métamorphoses of the disc’s title refer not just to Ligeti’s quartet but to the musical cross-culture of ...
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ReviewPablo Casals: A Concert at the White House. Casals: El cant dels ocells. F. Couperin: Suite (arr. Bazelaire). Haydn: Piano Trio no.39 in G major ‘Gypsy Rondo’. Mendelssohn: Piano Trio no.1 in D minor
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Casals, late in life, with illustrious friends playing for the KennedysMusicians: Pablo Casals (cello) Alexander Schneider, Jacques Thibaud (violin) Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Alfred Cortot (piano)Composer: Casals, F. Couperin, Haydn, Mendelssohn, SchumannThis is the famous concert at the White House on 13 November 1961, ...
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ReviewBritten: Violin Concerto. Delius: Violin Concerto. Milford: The Darkling Thrush
The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Graffin takes on two British concertos and the premiere of a rare birdMusicians: Philippe Graffin (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/David Lloyd-Jones Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicholas CollonComposer: Britten, Delius, MilfordDelius’s and Britten’s violin concertos require quite different resources from their soloists, which may be why ...
