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ArticleCello Sonatas. Weinberg: Cello Sonata no.2 op.63. Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor op.40. Boris Tchaikovsky: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Johannes Moser (cello) Paul Rivinius (piano)Composer: Weinberg, Shostakovich, Boris TchaikovskyThese are three sturdy works from the Soviet period. Moisey Weinberg (aka Mieczyslaw Vaynberg, 1919–96) and Boris Tchaikovsky (1925–96) both postdate the Revolution, but grew to maturity during Stalin’s cultural purges (the second ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Trios no.1 in B minor op.8, no.2 in C major op.87 & no.3 in C minor op.101, Piano Quartet no.1 in G minor op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Wanderer Trio, Christophe Gaugué (viola)Composer: BrahmsWhile working on the revised version of his First Piano Trio, Brahms commented to Clara Schumann: ‘I have written my B major Trio once more... But will it be better?’ The answer is ‘yes and no’ – ...
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ArticleStrauss: String Sextet from Capriccio. Berg: Piano Sonata in B minor op.1 (transcr. Müller). Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Artemis Quartet, Thomas Kakuska (viola) Valentin Erben (cello)Composer: Strauss, Berg, SchönbergIn this unusual programme of late-Romantic string sextets recorded in 2002, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet collaborates with cellist Valentin Erben and violist Thomas Kakuska of the Alban Berg Quartet, one of its ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in B minor op.33 no. 1, in D major op.64 no.5 ‘Lark’ & in G major op.76 no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Ebène QuartetComposer: HaydnThe members of the Ebène Quartet win their spurs in this superlative debut classical disc. Their performances, recorded live, demonstrate a natural affinity with three quartets from different periods of Haydn’s career, and their bold and decisive characterisation ...
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ArticleHenze: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 3*, Fünf Nachtstücke†
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin) Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee (conductor)* Aaron Shorr (piano)† Composer: HenzeHenze’s musical gifts and socio-political ideals have always directed him towards musical individuation: even the more sprawling of his orchestral works abound in soloistic virtuosity, and his ...
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ArticleJanácek: String Quartets no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ & no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’, Pohádka, Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Brodsky Quartet, MartinuCousin (piano)Composer: JanácekBritish players have been involved with Janá?cek’s chamber music since the famous Wigmore Hall concert of 6 May 1926, in the composer’s presence. It is wonderful that so many now play his music – but whether they should ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Concertos no.1 in B flat major K207, no.2 in D major K211 & no.3 in G major K216
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Fabio Biondi (violin/director) Europa GalanteComposer: MozartThe day before I began appraising this disastrous disc, I was listening with pleasure to one of the CDs of Boccherini quintets by Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante. It is not a long journey from Boccherini to ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Piano Trios in G major op.1 no.2 & in D major op.70 no.1 ‘Ghost’. Maxwell Davies: A Voyage to Fair Isle
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Grieg TrioComposer: Beethoven, Maxwell DaviesThis is one of a series of CDs placing the trios of Beethoven with works by contemporary composers, to display ‘both their contrasts and their connections’. Beethoven was constantly innovative in his trios right from his op.1 set, ...
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ArticleBach: Viola da gamba Sonatas in G major BWV1027, in D major BWV1028 & in G minor BWV1029, Flute Sonata in B minor BWV1030b (transcr. in G minor for gamba)
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Jonathan Manson (viola da gamba) Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord)Composer: BachOne man’s Bach is another man’s poison, or, to put it another way, his music is capable of sustaining a rich variety of delivery. This is the case even within the parameters of period ...
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ArticleSibelius: Six Humoresques opp.87 & 89, Two Serenades op.69, Suite op.117, Swanwhite op.54
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Pekka Kuusisto (violin/director) Tapiola SinfoniettaComposer: SibeliusSibelius’s reputation reached its apex in the 1930s, when the distinguished English musicologist Julius Harrison went as far as to claim that ‘Sibelius is the one recognised by cultured musicians as the most fitting successor ...
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ArticleJongen: String Trio op.135. Ysaÿe: Le Chimay. De Meester: String Trio
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Goeyvaerts TrioComposer: Jongen, Ysaÿe, De MeesterThis disc features three Belgian composers who were working in the first half of the 20th century, but whose style and output occupied no common ground. Joseph Jongen, today remembered almost entirely for his organ works, was ...
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ArticleBridge: Phantasy Piano Quartet in F sharp minor. Howells: Piano Quartet in A minor op.21. Alwyn: Rhapsody for Piano Quartet. Scott: Piano Quartet op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Primrose Piano QuartetComposer: Bridge, Howells, Alwyn, ScottThis is a most attractive programme, gathering together four little-known 20th-century British piano quartets. The performances place them in direct line from Elgar and bypass the German and French influences that fashioned the young Frank Bridge ...
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ArticleWriting against War – Bachmann to music. Froom: Piano Trio no.2 ‘Grenzen’. Deutsch: Curriculum vitae. Sterk: Hôtel de la paix*. Lauermann: […übungen in horizontgewinn und traumverlust…]. Mumford: in t
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, Christian Hilz (baritone)*Composer: Froom, Deutsch, Sterk, Lauermann, MumfordHere’s a lovely idea: piano trios by five composers otherwise unrepresented in the UK CD catalogue and united only by a common inspiration, the poetry of Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–73). The direct imagery ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Sonatas no.4 in A minor op.23 & no.7 in C minor op.30 no.2, Variations on ‘Se vuol ballare’ WoO40
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Daniel Sepec (violin) Andreas Staier (piano)Composer: BeethovenThis disc has significant organological interest. Daniel Sepec plays an early 18th-century Austrian violin presented to Beethoven by Prince Lichnowsky around 1800 and recently restored to its original condition, while Andreas Staier masters with a refined ...
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ArticleRomantic Concertos. Röntgen: Violin Concerto in A minor. Chausson: Poème op.25. Hubay: Violin Concerto no.3 in G minor op.99*
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Ragin Wenk-Wolff (violin), Dvorák Symphony Orchestra/Stanislav Bogunia, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Dennis BurkhComposer: Röntgen, Chausson, HubayThere is a passionate zeal and imperativeness about these recordings that took me back to my early days as a collector, when I used to pick all kinds ...
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ArticleRózsa: Cello Concerto op.32, Sinfonia concertante op.29
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Philippe Graffin (violin) Raphael Wallfisch (cello) BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry WordsworthComposer: RózsaFor all his success as a film composer (he won three Academy Awards), Miklós Rózsa throughout his long life set great store by his ‘serious’ music. Although trained at the prestigious Leipzig ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas vol.6: Sonatas in A major K402 (385e) & in C major K403 (385c), Piano Sonata in B flat major K570 (arr. for violin & piano), Six Variations in G minor on ‘Au bord d’une fontaine
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Takako Nishizaki (violin) Benjamin Loeb (piano)Composer: MozartThis sixth volume of Mozart’s complete violin sonatas doesn’t actually contain any complete Mozart violin sonatas. Two of them were finished by Maximilian Stadler after the composer’s death, while K570 is a piano sonata with a ...
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ArticleLeclair: Sonatas, Book 4
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Patrick Bismuth (violin) Valérie Balssa, La TempestaComposer: LeclairJean-Marie Leclair’s fourth book of solo sonatas contains twelve four-movement works in the sonata da chiesa form (ten for violin, two for flute), with a delightful smattering of French dance forms set between Sarabande, Largo ...
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ArticleSchumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44, Piano Quartet in E flat major op.47
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Schubert EnsembleComposer: SchumannIt is the immaculate recorded balance between piano and strings that sets this disc apart from many others, for despite being a prime requirement, this has been the drawback of many eminently recommendable performances.The opening of the Piano Quintet does ...
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ArticleWilliam Primrose – Viola Transcriptions. Zimbalist: Sarasateana. Plus arrangements of works by Borodin, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Aguirre/Heifetz, Valle/Heifetz, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Bizet, Tchai
The Strad Issue: January 2006Musicians: Roberto Díaz, Robert KoenigComposer: Zimbalist, Borodin, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Aguirre/Heifetz, Valle/Heifetz, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Bizet, Tchaikovsky & Brahms-(transc. Prmirose)William Primrose, in Yehudi Menuhin’s words ‘the first star of the viola’, was fond of peppering his concert programmes with short virtuoso pieces, of which ...
