All The Strad articles in Web Issue – Page 53
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ArticleFlights of Fantasy: Early Italian Chamber Music. Works by Castello, Farina, Cavalli, Marini, Legrenzi, Bertali, Frescobaldi & Biber
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists/Monica Huggett (director)Composer: Castello, Farina, Cavalli, Marini, Legrenzi, Bertali, Frescobaldi & Biber Monica Huggett and her colleagues demonstrate how various Italian or Italian-influenced composers realised the potential of the ascendant violin in the 17th century. The ten works ...
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ArticleMethera – In Concert
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Emma Reid, John Dipper (fiddle) Miranda Rutter (viola) Lucy Deakin (cello), Kerr Fagan HarbronComposer: VariousIf you have doubts over whether the string quartet is a natural medium for traditional music – and I did – then Methera will leave you converted. This ...
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60-year-old violinist accuses Young Concert Artists of age discrimination
A violinist in New York is suing Young Concert Artists (YCA), claming that its eligibility rules for musicians are age-discriminatory, reports the New York Post. Martin Stoner, a 60-year-old former member of the New York City Ballet orchestra, wanted to enter YCA's audition competition, the winners of which receive ...
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Russian violist, quartet player and conductor Rudolf Barshai dies aged 86
Russian violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai has died in Switzerland. He had been struggling with health problems for the last year. Born in 1924, Barshai studied violin with Lev Zeitlin and viola with Vadim Borisovsky at the Moscow Conservatory before starting his career as a solo and ensemble player ...
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Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra bassist dies in hiking accident
A bassist in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has died in a hiking accident. Georg Straka slipped and fell to his death while climbing Mount Fuji on a free day during the orchestra's current tour of Japan. He was 41. Born in Mödling, south of Vienna, in 1969, Straka studied ...
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Polish composer Henryk Górecki dies aged 76
The composer Henryk Górecki has died at the age of 76 after suffering a long illness. Born in Silesia, south-west Poland, in 1933, Górecki studied violin before composition. He is most famous for his Third Symphony of 1976, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, a 1991 recording of ...
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Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair commits to Northern Sinfonia
Thomas Zehetmair has signed a new contract with the Northern Sinfonia, the orchestra of The Sage Gateshead in the UK. The 48-year-old Austrian violinist and conductor, who became the orchestra's music director in 2001, will now remain in the position until at least August 2014. Under the terms of ...
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French violinist Solenne Païdassi wins Long–Thibaud contest
Solenne Païdassi has won the first grand prize at the Long–Thibaud International Competition in Paris. The 25-year-old, who lives in Hannover, is the first French winner of the top violin prize since Devy Erlih won in 1955. Païdassi received €30,500 and also won the audience prize. The second grand ...
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UK orchestras compete for chance to record 209 national anthems for London 2012 Olympics
The organisers of the 2012 Olympics in London are looking for an orchestra to record 209 national anthems for the event. The anthems will be used at the Olympic medal ceremonies and also to welcome the teams to the Olympic village. The organising committee said that it wants 'an ...
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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra launches own recording label
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will release the first recording on its new label ASO Media next February. The orchestra, which ended a 32-year association with Telarc in September, has chosen two new commissions for the 2011 release: QED: Engaging Richard Feynman, a choral work by Michael Gandolfi, and Jennifer ...
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Cellist barred from entering UK to play no-fee concerts
An American cellist was questioned by UK Border Agency officials at Heathrow airport for eight hours before being sent back on a plane to Chicago, according to a report in the Guardian. Kristin Ostling, a member of the Carpe Diem Quartet, which is resident at Ohio Wesleyan University, had been ...
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International Viola Society gathering set for Würzburg
The International Viola Society is set to hold its 2011 congress at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, Germany, next October. The 39th congress will run in combination with Bratschistentag, the annual German viola festival. Next year's Bratschistentag will include a pedagogic focus in tribute to Egon Sassmannshaus, the string-method ...
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National Symphony Orchestra cellistt Frederick Zenone dies
Cellist Frederick Zenone, who became an influential mediator in orchestral labour disputes, has died of cancer at the age of 74. Having learnt the trumpet in his youth, Zenone took up the cello very late, at 21. After joining the National Symphony in Washington DC in 1969, he became chairman ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77. Bruch: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor op.26
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sarah Chang (violin) Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra/Kurt MasurComposer: Brahms, Bruch Although both of these performances reflect credit on all concerned, it is my impression that the Bruch is rather special, while the Brahms is just another excellent Brahms. ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Concerto no.1 op.35, Symphony no.3 ‘The Song of the Night’
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Steve Davislim (tenor) Vienna Singverein, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Pierre BoulezComposer: Szymanowski With a conductor as brilliantly analytical as Pierre Boulez in charge of Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto it would be easy to get swept up in the orchestral ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major op.35. Bruch: Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor op.26
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Nicola Benedetti (violin) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Jakub Hr?ša Composer: Tchaikovsky, BruchNicola Benedetti comes of age with a coupling that, in terms of its heartfelt lyricism and intonational purity, can hold its own with the best the catalogue has to offer. Those who ...
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ArticleGe Gan-Ru: Fall of Baghdad: String Quartets no.1 ‘Fu’, no.4 ‘Angel Suite’ & no.5 ‘Fall of Baghdad’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: ModernWorks Composer: Ge Gan-RuGe Gan-Ru was born in Shanghai in 1954, and studied violin at the city’s university before switching to composition, later completing a doctorate at Columbia University in the US. His affinity for string music is immediately clear ...
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ArticleGrieg: Violin Sonatas no.1 in F major op.8, no.2 in G major op.13 & no.3 in C minor op.45
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Alexandra Soumm (violin) David Kadouch (piano)Composer: GriegYouth and vitality pour forth from these delicious recordings of the Grieg sonatas by Moscow-born violinist Alexandra Soumm and French pianist David Kadouch, both in their mid-twenties. Never a note or a gesture is ...
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ArticleJanácek: String Quartets no.1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ & no.2 ‘Intimate Letters’ (in two versions, with viola and with viola d’amore)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Mandelring Quartet, Gunter Teuffel (viola d’amore)Composer: JanácekThis would count as a desirable disc of Janá?ek’s quartets even without its added extra. And quite an extra it is: a second performance of the Second Quartet with a viola d’amore replacing the viola. The ...
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ArticleBach: Six Suites for solo cello BWV 1007–12 (incl. three performances of no.5)
The Strad Issue: January 2010Musicians: Josephine van Lier (cellos)Composer: Bach The countless available recordings of Bach’s Cello Suites cater for a wide divergence of tastes, developed by not only the variety of performing approaches employed but also the widely differing personalities of the artists involved. ...
