Reviews – Page 145
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ReviewMozart: String Quartet in G major K387. Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor op.59 no.2 ‘Rasumovsky’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Highly detailed yet risk-free performances, with rather dry soundMusicians: Meccorre QuartetComposer: Mozart, Beethoven Taking the second prize in last year’s Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, the Polish-based Meccorre Quartet has achieved a great deal since its formation five years ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartet in A minor op.13. Schnittke: String Quartet no.3
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A fresh-faced but patchy disc, despite its intriguing couplingMusicians: Cavaleri QuartetComposer: Mendelssohn, Schnittke My commercial instincts question the viability of a release whenever I encounter such an unusual coupling as this – I wonder about the target audience that ...
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ReviewZemlinsky: String Quartets vol.1: no.3 op.19 & no.4 op.25 (Suite), Zwei Sätze
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Authentically Viennese interpretations from sensitive performersMusicians: Escher QuartetComposer: Zemlinsky As the often neglected fulcrum around whom so many of the great early 20th-century Viennese composers revolved, Alexander Zemlinsky still needs his advocates, but attitudes seem to be ...
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ReviewMartinu: Piano trios (complete): Cinq pièces brèves (Piano Trio no.1), Piano Trio nos.2 & 3 (The Great), Bergerettes
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A subtle account that features fluid and sensitive playingMusicians: Arbor Piano Trio Composer: MartinuThe Arbor Trio brings a strong sense of line and lyricism to Martinu’s Cinq pièces brèves (which count as his First Piano Trio), even when the composer is at his ...
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ReviewGoldmark: Violin Concerto no.1 in A minor op.28; Violin Sonata op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Honest, colourful performances that sometimes underplay the music’s dramaMusicians: Thomas Albertus Irnberger (violin) Pavel Kašpar (piano) Israel Chamber Orchestra/Doron SalomonComposer: Goldmark Goldmark’s Violin Concerto may have suffered from neglect of late, but performances on record include ...
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ReviewWeinberg: Complete music for violin and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: The dark side of human life conveyed in gripping performancesMusicians: Linus Roth (violin) José Gallardo (piano)Composer: WeinbergAnyone who adores Shostakovich’s violin music should find Weinberg’s distinctive musical voice very much to their taste. He too found a way of expressing the dark ...
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ReviewDvorák: Cello concertos in A major (rev. and orch. by Günther Raphael) & in B minor op.104 (with original ending); Lasst mich allein op.82 no.1 (arr. Leopold)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An enterprising coupling somewhat let down by a routine early compositionMusicians: Steven Isserlis (cello) Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: DvorákContinuing his tradition of releasing enterprising and imaginative discs, Steven Isserlis’s Dvorák compilation offers an orchestrated version of the op.82 song quoted in the ...
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ReviewTaylor: Viola Concerto (Humoreskes), Symphony no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Definitive interpretations of impressively constructed musicMusicians: Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Garry WalkerComposer: Taylor The Viola Concerto by London-born Matthew Taylor (b.1964) was written in 2010 and premiered by Sarah-Jane Bradley the following year. Its five short movements ...
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ReviewBritten: Suites for solo cello; Tema ‘Sacher’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Strongly characterised accounts from a meticulous playerMusicians: Jamie Walton (cello)Composer: BrittenWith this recording of the Suites for solo cello, British cellist Jamie Walton has now committed all of Britten’s cello works to disc. They are excellent interpretations with an exceptional sense of flow, and ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin sonatas in F minor op.120 no.1, and E flat major op.120 no.2. Schumann, Dietrich, Brahms: ‘FAE’ Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Elegant, spontaneous Brahms in period-influenced performancesMusicians: Annemarie Šström (violin) Terhi Dostal (piano)Composer: Brahms, Schumann, DietrichUnderpinned by pianist Terhi Dostal’s own Brahms scholarship, this recording nods towards historical performance ideals, making use of gut violin strings and the reconditioned 1880 Streicher piano preserved in the ...
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ReviewAurora. Music by Szymanowski, Ravel, Ysaÿe & Lutoslawski
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Colourful, lithe performances of some sensual repertoireMusicians: Janusz Wawrowski (violin) José Gallardo (piano)Composer: Szymanowski, Ravel, Ysaÿe & LutoslawskiAs anyone who has heard his fine recording of the Paganini Caprices on Accord will testify, Janusz Wawrowski possesses a formidable technique, allied to a ...
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ReviewBliss: Viola Sonata. Bax: Viola Sonata. Vaughan Williams: Suite for viola and piano
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: No-nonsense yet charming performances of sonatas written for Tertis Musicians: Christian Euler (viola) Paul Rivinius (piano) Composer: Bliss, Bax, Vaughan WilliamsIt is a good sign that the Lionel Tertis repertoire of English music from the early 20th century ...
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ReviewSonnerie and other portraits. Music by Marais, Rameau, Francoeur, Leclair, Du Phly & Dornel
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Musical portraits from the 18th century that put the gamba in the spotlightMusicians: FantasticusComposer: Marais, Rameau, Francoeur, Leclair, Du Phly & DornelNetherlands-based period trio Fantasticus here offers a selection of 18th-century musical portraits and commemorative pieces by French composers. Although the recorded ...
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ReviewBarber: Cello Concerto op.22, Cello Sonata op.6, Adagio for strings op.11
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Expansive, cantabile accounts of Barber’s engaging cello musicMusicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) Kathryn Stott (piano) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew LittonComposer: Barber How good to have a fresh recording of Barber’s Cello Concerto after rather a dearth of versions over the past ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trio op.97 ‘Archduke’, Piano Trio in E flat major WoO38, Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A good-natured ‘Archduke’ that highlights the piece’s singing qualitiesMusicians: Ida Bieler (violin) Maria Kliegel (cello) Nina Tichman (piano)Composer: BeethovenIt is a never-ending source of wonder how distinguished musicians can produce such fundamentally different accounts of the same score, while keeping within well-defined interpretative ...
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ReviewLigeti: String quartets nos.1 & 2. Barber: Molto adagio from String Quartet op.11
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Revelatory performances of jarringly juxtaposed repertoireMusicians: Keller QuartetComposer: Ligeti, Barber It’s hard to know what to admire most about this remarkable new disc – the bravery of the strange but compelling juxtaposition of repertoire; the technical brilliance of ...
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ReviewGrieg: Violin Sonatas nos.1–3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Two players at one with the composer’s lyrical freshnessMusicians: Christian Svarfvar (violin) Helge Kjekshus (piano)Composer: Grieg The C minor (no.3) may be the most overtly dramatic of Grieg’s three violin sonatas, yet for sheer enchantment and lyrical ...
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ReviewSolo. Cassadó: Suite for solo cello. Ginastera: Puneña no.2 op.45. Ligeti: Sonata. Kodály: Sonata op.8
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Masterful playing in a highly persuasive solo cello programmeMusicians: Santiago Cañón Valencia (cello)Composer: Cassadó, Ginastera, Kodály Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia delivers simply tremendous playing on this warmly recorded CD. In fact, I would go as far as to say ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Cello Concertos no.1 op.107 and no.2 op.126
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A coupling at its best when the soloist loses his inhibitionsMusicians: Dmitry Kouzov (cello) St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir LandeComposer: ShostakovichThis recording fulfils a dream for Dmitry Kouzov, whose passion for Shostakovich was fuelled by being born in the same city, St ...
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ReviewStenhammar: String Quartets vol.1: no.3 in F major op.18 & no.4 in A minor op.25, Elegi & Intermezzo op.39
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An imposing start to a Stenhammar quartet cycleMusicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: StenhammarDespite being one of the most important Swedish musicians of the early 20th century, Wilhelm Stenhammer (1871–1927) has only recently begun receiving his full due as a composer. His distinguished series of ...
