Reviews – Page 156
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartets in E flat major op.12 & A minor op.13
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Accounts of Mendelssohn’s early quartets that recognise their Beethovenian influenceMusicians: Minetti QuartetComposer: Mendelssohn Mendelssohn’s string quartets are currently enjoying considerable popularity both in the concert hall and on disc. This new recording comes from the Austrian-based Minetti Quartet, a ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Violin Concertos in E minor op.64 & D minor, The Hebrides Overture op.26
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A more-than-welcome addition to a crowded discographyMusicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Vladimir JurowskiComposer: Mendelssohn Does the world really need another recording of Mendelssohn’s E minor Violin Concerto? Well, yes, when it’s as good ...
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ReviewPerspectives. Webern: Five Movements op.5. Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten. Kurtág: Aus der Ferne III. Högberg: Hitting the First Base. Lutoslawski: Musique funèbre
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A contemplative northern view on music from central Europe and beyondMusicians: Dan Styffe (double bass) Tromsø Chamber Orchestra/Kolbjørn HoltheComposer: Webern, Pärt, Kurtág, Högberg, LutoslawskiThe documentation for this disc tries a little too hard to relate what is primarily a programme of music ...
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ReviewPleyel: String Quartets in C major B334, A major B335, E flat major B336
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Good-humoured performances of quartets by a Mozart contemporaryMusicians: Pleyel Quartet KölnComposer: Pleyel These seldom-heard works form the ‘deuxième livre’ (nos.4–6) of Pleyel’s twelve ‘Prussian’ quartets, dedicated to Frederick William II of Prussia. The Pleyel Quartet presents a largely persuasive ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major op.1 no.1. Armstrong: Stop laughing: we’re rehearsing! Haydn: Piano Trio in D major HobXV:24. Liszt: Tristia (Vallée d’Obermann)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A novel setting for two elegantly played Classical piano triosMusicians: Andrej Bielow (violin) Adrian Brendel (cello) Kit Armstrong (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Armstrong, Haydn, Liszt An unusual mix of works characterises this release from Ukrainian violinist Andrej Bielow, British cellist Adrian ...
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Review
Last Spring
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Jazz takes on traditional and composed melodies from a resourceful violinistMusicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin/viola/viola concorda) Bugge Wesseltoft (piano)Composer: Kraggerud & Wesseltoft Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud seems to move freely between solo and chamber music, between standard repertoire and new commissions. This album ...
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ReviewConnections. Debussy: Cello Sonata. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major (arr. cello). Chausson: Pièce op.39. Fauré: Papillon op.77
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Imperfections in recording and performance mar an otherwise interesting collectionMusicians: Winona Zelenka (cello) Connie Shih (piano)Composer: Debussy, Franck, Chausson, Fauré This is Canadian cellist Winona Zelenka’s second release (her first, in 2010, was of the Bach Cello Suites, not ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quartets in E flat major D87 & in G major D887
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Early and mature Schubert brought to life in immaculate performancesMusicians: Casals QuartetComposer: Schubert From the mysterious opening of the G major Quartet, a score of epic scale whose length exceeds most symphonies of the period, the Casals Quartet fills ...
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ReviewStravinsky: Violin Concerto, Circus Polka. Martin: Violin Concerto. Honegger: Pacific 231, Rugby
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A highly rewarding coupling of two 20th-century violin concertosMusicians: Baiba Skride (violin) BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Thierry FischerComposer: Stravinsky, Martinu HoneggerThe excellent Latvian violinist Baiba Skride turns her hand first to Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto on this disc of mid-20th-century treasures. She dances ...
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ReviewYoung: Works for viola da gamba consort
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An interesting revival of music from the English BaroqueMusicians: Hamburger Ratsmusik/Simone Eckert (viola da gamba/director)Composer: Young Viol player William Young’s collection of Sonate a 3, 4 e 5 (1653) was the first by an Englishman explicitly to prescribe the ...
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ReviewBach: Violin Partitas no.2 in D minor BWV1004 & no.3 in E major BWV1006. Auerbach: par.ti.ta. Ysaÿe: Sonata in A minor op.27 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Gripping solo playing from a master violinistMusicians: Vadim Gluzman (violin)Composer: Bach, Auerbach, Ysaÿe Recorded in a fairly generous, open acoustic, Vadim Gluzman’s deftly articulated, gently cushioned playing comes across as particularly alluring in surround-sound of almost tactile presence. Solo ...
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ReviewEternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul. A Dudele, Mizmor L’Dovid, Shoyfer Shel Moshiakh, Romanian Doyne, T’filas Tal, Yism’chu, R’tzay, Dem Trisker Rebn’s Nign, Sheyibone Bays Hamikdosh, Kol ni
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: The Israeli—American violinist explores his Jewish rootsMusicians: Itzhak Perlman (violin) Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (cantor) Hankus Netsky (piano/arranger) various instrumentalistsComposer: TradItzhak Perlman has made klezmer recordings in the past. Here he has joined forces with the renowned cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot ...
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ReviewFauré: Piano Quartets no.1 in C minor op.15 & no.2 in G minor op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Ideal accounts of Fauré’s two piano quartetsMusicians: Daishin Kashimoto (violin) Lise Berthaud (viola) François Salque (cello) Eric Le Sage (piano)Composer: FauréAlpha’s ongoing series of Fauré’s chamber music with piano centres not unnaturally on pianist Eric Le Sage. Thus it’s perhaps fair to ...
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ReviewFeldman: Complete music for violin and piano: Spring of Chosroes, Extensions 1, Extensions 3, Vertical Thoughts 2, Vertical Thoughts 4, For Aaron Copland, Piece for violin and piano, Projection IV, Pi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An enlightening exploration of the music of an American modernist masterMusicians: Andreas Seidel (violin) Steffen Schleiermacher (piano)Composer: FeldmanUS composer Morton Feldman (1926–87) didn’t write that much for the combination of violin and piano, as the informative booklet notes to this compelling two-disc ...
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ReviewGál: Cello Concerto op.67. Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor op.85
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: The first recording of a little-known concerto coupled with an old favouriteMusicians: Antonio Meneses (cello) Northern Sinfonia/Claudio CruzComposer: Gál & Elgar The Austrian composer Hans Gál (1890–1987) settled in Britain after escaping the Anschluss in 1938, making his home ...
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ReviewHindemith: String Quartets no.2 in F minor op.10 & no.3 in C major op.16
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A promising start to a welcome Hindemith cycleMusicians: Amar QuartetComposer: HindemithDespite the distinguished advocacy on disc of many fine ensembles, Hindemith’s seven string quartets have failed to establish themselves in the regular playing repertoire to the same extent as, say, ...
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ReviewItalian Virtuoso Cello Sonatas. Locatelli: Cello Sonata in D major. Valentini: Cello Sonata in E major. Boccherini: Cello Sonata no.6 in A major. Donizetti: Largo in G minor
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A successful marrying of old and new, in terms of musicology and playingMusicians: Eva Kochenkova (cello) Morten Mogensen (piano)Composer: Locatelli, Valentini, Boccherini, DonizettiThis disc largely comprises readings of editions by Alfredo Piatti, who took various liberties. technical, notational, textural and otherwise, including ...
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ReviewKraus: Viola Concertos in E flat major & C major, Concerto in G major for viola and cello
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Fearless performances of familiar concertos under a new attributionMusicians: David Aaron Carpenter (viola) Riitta Pesola (cello) Tapiola SinfoniettaComposer: KrausI was more than a little surprised when a CD of viola concertos by Mozart’s exact contemporary Joseph MartinuKraus arrived, since I didn’t even ...
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ReviewLiebermann: Cello sonatas nos.1—4, Album Leaf op.66
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding cycle of sonatas, warmly playedMusicians: Dmitri Atapine (cello) Adela Hyeyeon Park (piano)Composer: Liebermann Cello sonatas have punctuated Lowell Liebermann’s career as one of America’s most frequently performed composers. His four works in the medium are written in ...
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ReviewPresent. Works by Halvorsen, Kukal, Ströble, Cirri, Schulhoff & Ravel
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results in a wide-ranging recital for violin and celloMusicians: Eight Strings: Valeria Nasushkina (violin) Mikael Samsonov (cello)Composer: Halvorsen, Kukal, Ströble, Cirri, Schulhoff & Ravel This disc sheds light on some of the byways of music for violin and cello, ...
