All The Strad articles in Web Issue – Page 170
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ReviewKorngold: String Sextet op.101, Suite op.232
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Generally successful performances of Korngold chamber worksMusicians: Aron Quartet, Thomas Selditz (viola) MÁ rius Diaz (cello) Henri Sigfridsson (piano)Composer: KorngoldLike the Doric Quartet before it (Chandos; see reviews in November 2010 and May 2012), the Aron Quartet builds on the success of its own ...
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ArticleYuri Bashmet loses honorary professorship at Lviv music academy
The violist, violinist and conductor Yuri Bashmet has been stripped of his title as honorary professor at the Lviv National Music Academy (LNMA) in Lviv, Ukraine. Bashmet, 61, was granted the title in 2012. According to a statement from the LNMA, the decision was taken in response ...
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GalleryFrom the archive: a cello by Francesco Rugierius, II Per
This illustration of a Francesco Rugierius cello was published in The Strad, October 1924. The following text is extracted from an article accompanying the photographs: This cello is an example of the best known of that large family of makers who worked under the names of Ruger, Rogeri and Ruggeri. ...
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ReviewPenderecki: Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, Per Slava, Violoncello totale, Suite. Xenakis: Kottos, Nomos alpha
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Contrasting sound worlds from two modern mastersMusicians: Wiktor Kociuban (cello)Composer: Penderecki, XenakisWith two major contemporary composers named prominently on its cover, you might expect young Polish cellist Wiktor Kociuban’s stimulating CD to hold an hour of predictably thorny, challenging music. In fact, it’s very much ...
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ReviewPaganini: 24 Caprices op.1. Paganini Unpublished. Paganini: Six Sonatinas, Sonata with Variations, Four Studies
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Knowns and unknowns explored in two new Paganini releasesMusicians: Yehonatan Berick (violin) Stefano Delle Donne (violin) Marco Scicli (viola) Damiano Puliti (cello) Adriano Sebastiani (guitar)Composer: PaganiniYehonatan Berick’s Paganini Caprices (packaged with both DVD and Blu-Ray discs) offer little in terms of innovation, ...
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ReviewMétamorphoses nocturnes. Ligeti: String quartets no.1 ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ & no.2, Sonata for solo cello
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Assured but over-safe accounts of Ligeti’s fantastical creationsMusicians: Béla QuartetComposer: LigetiThe four young French players of the Béla Quartet make great play of the unbridled fantasy and mischievous humour in Ligeti’s music in their introductory booklet notes to this enjoyable release, so it comes ...
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ReviewRomantic Duos. Liszt: Grand duo concertant, Consolation no.3 (arr. Milstein). Bridge: Violin Sonata, Romanze, Heart’s Ease. Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An unusual collection performed by an assured duo Husband-and-wife duoMusicians: Benjamin Schmid (violin) Ariane Haering (piano)Composer: Liszt, Bridge, GriegBenjamin Schmid and Ariane Haering are a formidable pairing who live and breathe these scores as one, matching even the most subtle of dynamic and ...
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ArticleViolist Dimitri Murrath and Calder Quartet to receive Avery Fisher career grants
The Los Angeles-based Calder Quartet and the Belgian violist Dimitri Murrath have each been named as recipients of Avery Fisher Career Grants for 2014. Worth $25,000, the grants give professional assistance to instrumentalists judged to have exceptional career potential. Formed in 1998 at the Thornton School ...
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ReviewFantasy and Farewell. McLean: Suite. Schumann: Märchenbilder op.113 (arr. McLean). Shostakovich: Viola Sonata op.147 (arr. V. Mendelssohn)
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Three unrelated viola works performed with varying successMusicians: Roger Myers (viola) London Symphony Orchestra/Michael FrancisComposer: McLean, Schumann, ShostakovichMichael McLean’s Suite for viola and orchestra was written in 2008 for Roger Myers at whose request the composer took Bach’s chorale ‘Befiehl du deine ...
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BlogsStringed instruments: investment, inflation and accessibility
Stephen Bryant, concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, considers the difficulties facing string players when it comes to finding an affordable instrument
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FocusTackling the difficult topic of student-teacher relationships
Learning a stringed instrument requires an emotional and mental bond between student and teacher, but what happens when the boundaries blur? Hazel Davis investigates
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ReviewMendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat major op.44 no.3, Octet in E flat major op.20, Four Pieces for String Quartet op.81 nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2014Description: Satisfying quartet playing, but a diffuse account of the OctetMusicians: Mandelring Quartet, Cremona QuartetComposer: MendelssohnComposed for the virtuoso Ferdinand David in the first violin’s chair, the third of Mendelssohn’s op.44 quartets is more technically demanding than most violin concertos from the first half of the 19th ...
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ArticleLeonidas Kavakos plays Beethoven's 'Spring' Sonata
To celebrate the arrival of spring, here's a video of Leonidas Kavakos performing the Rondo from Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 'Spring', as part of a promotion for his recent recording of Beethoven's complete violin sonatas.Click here to find out what our reviewer Tim Homfray ...
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ArticleMinnesota Orchestra president to step down in August
The Minnesota Orchestra has announced that Michael Henson, president and chief executive since 2007, is to step down from both roles in August. A statement from the orchestra’s board said that Henson would remain to ‘lead the organisation through a transition period over the next five months’ ...
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ArticleYo-Yo Ma to receive the inaugural Fred Rogers Legacy Award
US cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been named the recipient of the inaugural Fred Rogers Legacy Award. The 58-year-old (pictured) will receive the honour at a ceremony on 23 May at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, location of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media.In ...
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FocusViolist Lesley Robertson on taking the plunge with laser eye surgery
In this Health Matters article from The Strad, June 2009, the St Lawrence Quartet player describes the process of having her eyes lasered
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GalleryFrom the archive: a violin by Joseph Guarnerius, 1744
This illustration of a 1744 Joseph Guarnerius violin was published in The Strad, June 1926. The following text is extracted from an article accompanying the photographs: This violin, formerly belonging to Emile Sauret, is one of the finest examples of this maker’s later period, and is wonderfully ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartet in G major op.18 no.2. Bartók: String Quartet no.3. Brahms: String Quartet in C minor op.51 no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2014Description: An impressive first disc from a young German quartetMusicians: Schumann QuartetComposer: Beethoven, Bartók, BrahmsThe three Schumann brothers, Erik, Ken and Mark, and violist Ayako Goto came together in 2007, and after awards in several competitions, their ensemble has emerged as ...
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ArticleRare 1719 Stradivarius viola to go on sale
The 1719 ‘Macdonald’ Stradivarius viola is to go on the market. One of only ten surviving violas made by the master luthier, the instrument will be offered for sale in a sealed bid process by auctioneers Sotheby’s and Ingles & Hayday. Made during Stradivarius’s so-called ‘golden ...
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ArticleThe Strad April 2014 issue is on sale now
Tributes to János Starker, 40 years of the Arditti Quartet and a beautifully decorated bow are among this month's features
