All The Strad articles in Web Issue – Page 25
-
ArticleVivaldi: Cello Concertos vol.2: in C major RV399, in C minor RV401, in D major RV403, in B minor RV408, in F major RV411, in G minor RV417 & in A minor RV422
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Christophe Coin (cello) Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)Composer: Vivaldi Vivaldi’s rhythmically punchy and harmonically direct style always sits well with period-performance ensembles, of which Il Giardino Armonico is a particularly imaginative example. The group’s timbre is ‘nutty’ and ...
-
ArticleBrahms: Piano Quartets in G minor op.25 & in C minor op.60
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nash Ensemble Composer: BrahmsThis is one of the finest CDs of the past year. I felt respectful towards the Nash’s Mozart piano quartets but in Brahms these players are in their element. Anchored by gigantic virtuosity from Ian ...
-
ArticleIn recital. Waxman: Carmen Fantasy. Tchaikovsky: Valse–Scherzo op.34, Méditation from Souvenir d’un lieu cher op.42. Szymanowski: Mythes op.30. Chausson: Poème op.25. Stravinsky: Suite italienne
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mayuko Kamio (violin) Vadim Gladkov (piano) Composer: Waxman, Tchaikovsky, Szymanowski, Chausson, StravinskyStill only 22, Mayuko Kamio made her concert debut in her native Japen at the age of ten, and as a teenager she won a ...
-
ArticleGnattali: Waltz. Santoro: String Quartet no.3. Guarnieri: String Quartet no.3. Villa-Lobos: String Quartet no.6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Radamés Gnattali Quartet Composer: Gnattali, Santoro, Guarnieri, Villa-LobosThe music of four 20th-century Brazilian composers comes vividly to life in this recording by the Radamés Gnattali Quartet. This is playing of real energy, laced with a poignant touch of nostalgia: ...
-
ArticleGrieg: Holberg Suite op.40. Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik K525. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings op.48
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Moscow Soloists, Yuri Bashmet (conductor) Composer: Grieg, Mozart, TchaikovskyDespite its obvious merits, I cannot issue a compulsory purchase order for this disc. At least one colleague has raved about it but I am left with a rather chilly ...
-
ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets in E flat major op.74 & F minor op.95
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tokyo Quartet Composer: BeethovenThis is the third instalment in the Tokyo Quartet’s complete Beethoven quartet cycle, and heady stuff it is. The op.74 Quartet is often seen as a gentle work, coming amid the might and severity ...
-
ArticleSaariaho: Notes on Light*, Orion, Mirage†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anssi Karttunen (cello)* Karita Mattila (soprano)† Orchestre de Paris, Christoph Eschenbach (conductor) Composer: SaariahoThe music of the respected Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (b.1952) is precise and passionate, full of evanescent textures that suddenly dissipate or burst into ...
-
ArticleStrauss: Volin Sonata in E flat major op.18. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.1 in F minor op. 80
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker (violin) Fabio Bidini (piano) Composer: Strauss, ProkofievSabrina-Vivian Höpcker impresses in this debut CD, with captivating readings of sonatas by Strauss and Prokofiev, and she is given impeccable support by pianist Fabio Bidini. Strauss’s beautiful but fiendish Sonata ...
-
ArticleEuropa. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Szymanowski: Mythes op.30. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 in A major op.25. Bartók:Violin Rhapsody no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Janacek, Szymanowski, Enescu, Bartók Juxtaposing major works written within the space of 13 years by four European composers would appear a fascinating concept, though in the event this disc shows just how ...
-
ArticleDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104. Herbert: Cello Concerto no.2 in E minor op.30
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gautier Capuçon (cello) Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi (conductor)Composer: Dvorák, HerbertGautier Capuçon is not the first cellist to have paired these two concertos from 1890s New York, though I’m not convinced of the wisdom of showing up a mediocre work with ...
-
ArticleVieuxtemps: Violin Concerto no.5 in A minor op.37. Wieniawski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor op.22, Fantaisie brillante on Themes from Gounod’s ‘Faust’ op.20
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Corey Cerovsek (violin) Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)Composer: Vieuxtemps, WieniawskiAlthough Corey Cerovsek and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra deliver polished performances here, this disc displays a conventional stylistic approach to the repertoire. Cerovsek, born in Vancouver and a graduate of Toronto’s Royal ...
-
ArticleRózsa: Viola Concerto op.37, Hungarian Serenade op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gilad Karni (viola) Budapest Concert Orchestra MÁV, Mariusz Smolij (conductor)Composer: Rózsa In spite – or because – of his huge success in Hollywood, Miklós Rózsa strictly separated his work for the film industry from his ‘serious’ compositions ...
-
ArticleEnescu: String Octet in C major op.7 (orch. Foster), Violin Sonata no.3 in A major op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Valery Sokolov (violin) Svetlana Kosenko (piano) Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawrence Foster (conductor) Composer: EnescuGeorge Enescu’s compositions, overshadowed by his success as a violinist, conductor and teacher, remain largely neglected, though in some measure that is also due to the mixed ...
-
ArticleArensky: Violin Concerto in A minor op.54. Taneyev: Suite de concert op.28
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor)Composer: Arensky, TaneyevIlya Gringolts plays the Arensky Concerto as though it is a blazing masterpiece. In a recording in which he is backed to the hilt by Ilan Volkov and the ...
-
ArticleDavid Anderson: Double Bass Sonata*. Luis Prado: Three Meditations for double bass and piano*. Boismortier: Sonata in D major op.50 no.3 (arr. Kurtz)†
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jeremy Kurtz (double bass) Benjamin Kamins (bassoon)† Ines Irawati (piano)* Alison Luedecke (harpsichord)† Composer: David Anderson, Luis Prado, Boismortier The rich, post-Romantic harmonies and predominantly slow tempos of both US bassist David Anderson’s Double Bass Sonata (1990) and the ...
-
ArticleDodgson: String Quartets nos.3 & 4, Guitar Quintet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tippett Quartet, Craig Ogden (guitar) Composer: DodgsonThis distinguished follow-up to the first volume in the Tippett Quartet’s Stephen Dodgson quartet cycle (nos.1, 5, 6 and 7 are on CDLX 7182) features playing and engineering of exemplary poise and finesse. Not ...
-
ArticleSchubert: Piano Quintet in A major D667 ‘Trout’. Cramer: Piano Quintet in B flat major op.79
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nepomuk Fortepiano QuintetComposer: Schubert, Cramer This period-instrument ensemble is named after Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whose Piano Quintet op.87 is believed to have inspired the particular instrumental combination used by Schubert for his ‘Trout’ Quintet. Its members are devoted to ...
-
ArticleBruckner: String Quintet in F major, Intermezzo in D minor, String Quartet in C minor, Rondo in C minor
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Gil Sharon (viola)Composer: Bruckner Bruckner’s String Quintet is a score from the composer’s maturity, completed in 1878 around the time that he was writing his fifth and sixth symphonies, and during his lifetime it enjoyed some ...
-
ArticleRagaSaga for String Quartet
Musicians: V.S. Narasimhan (electric violins/electric viola) V.R. Sekar (electric cello) Composer: VariousV.S. Narasimhan’s musical experiences straddle the Western and Karnatak (South Indian) classical traditions, and his arrangements of the latter attempt to incorporate the former on this album.Firstly, a potential disappointment should be made explicit: this is ...
-
ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.2 in G major op.126, Cello Sonata in D minor op.40
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Mihaela Ursuleasa (piano) Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht (conductor)Composer: ShostakovichShostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto is much darker in nature than the composer’s first and has all too often been regarded as its poor cousin. Yet recently interest in the work ...
