All Reviews articles – Page 112
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ReviewFauré: Piano Trio in D minor op.120. Pierné: Piano Trio in C minor op.45
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The Wanderer pairs French piano trios from the 1920sMusicians: Wanderer TrioComposer: Fauré, PiernéThere is some lush writing in Gabriel Pierné’s 1921 Piano Trio in C minor, which the Wanderer Trio treats with an appropriate sweetness of tone. The first movement covers a ...
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ReviewBartók: Divertimento. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings op.48
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: String-ensemble standards captured live in characteristic Barbican soundMusicians: London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble/Roman Simović (violin)Composer: Bartók, TchaikovskyLast month’s Masterclass writer Roman Simović, directing the London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble from the leader’s chair, brings much pleasure in a polished and poised account ...
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ReviewVivaldi: L’estro armonico op.3
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Podger’s Brecon players are compelling in better-known VivaldiMusicians: Rachel Podger (violin/director) Brecon BaroqueComposer: VivaldiRachel Podger continues her exploration of Vivaldi’s violin concertos with his set of twelve, L’estro armonico op.3 (1711), accompanied this time by her ensemble Brecon Baroque and ...
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ReviewLanggaard: String Quartets nos.1 & 5; Italian Scherzo
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: June 2015Description: The Nightingale players close their award-winning Langgaard accountMusicians: Nightingale QuartetComposer: LanggaardThis final volume in the Nightingale Quartet’s pioneering complete cycle gathers together the earliest and latest of Langgaard’s ten works for quartet, though their tortured creation muddies the chronology. No.1 ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets in C minor op.18 no.4; in E major op.74 ‘Harp’; in B flat major op.130; Grosse Fuge op.133
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSDescription: The Elias embarks on a Beethoven quartet cycleMusicians: Elias QuartetComposer: BeethovenIt is a decade since I first encountered the remarkably gifted young musicians of the Elias Quartet, when they became founder members of the Sheffield-based chamber group Ensemble 360. They have musically travelled a long ...
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ReviewJ.L. Adams: The Wind in High Places; Canticles of the Sky; Dream of the Canyon Wren
The Strad Issue: June 2015Description: Eco-conscious introspection from Alaska-based Pulitzer Prize winnerMusicians: Jack Quartet, Northwestern University Cello Ensemble/Hans Jørgen JensenComposer: J.L. AdamsJohn Luther Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014 with his orchestral work Become Ocean. The Alaska-based composer, whose music is concerned with – ...
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ReviewTre Voci. Takemitsu: And then I knew ’twas wind. Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola and harp. Gubaidulina: Garten von Freuden und Traurigkeiten
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Three become one in works for Debussy’s classic combinationMusicians: Kim Kashkashian (viola) Marina Piccinini (flute) Sivan Magen (harp)Composer: Takemitsu, Debussy, GubaidulinaMany good things have come out of the Marlboro Music Festival over the years and the meeting of musical minds on this ...
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ReviewFive Decades of Treasured Performances. Works by Barber, Bartók, Beethoven, A. Benjamin, Bloch, Brahms, Brustad, Chausson, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Grieg, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Nín, Paradis,
The Strad Issue: August 2015Description: A celebration of an under-sung violinist now in her eightiesMusicians: Camilla Wicks (violin) various artistsComposer: Barber, Bartók, Beethoven, A. Benjamin, Bloch, Brahms, Brustad, Chausson, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Grieg, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Nín, Paradis, Ravel, Sarasate, Scărlătescu, Schubert, Shostakovich, R. Strauss, Tailleferre, Tchaikovsky, ...
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ReviewPrimeros Pasos
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: London’s premiere tango ensemble takes its first steps on discMusicians: London Tango Orchestra/Caroline Pearsall (violin)Composer: VariousWith regular imported dance shows at Sadler’s Wells and the eight-piece London Tango Orchestra (LTO) performing gigs across the city, London clearly has a market for classic ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Sonatas: in E minor K304; in A major K305; in B flat major K454; in A major K526
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Violin sonatas from early and late in Mozart’s careerMusicians: ErnŠ‘ Kállai (violin) Zoltán Fejérvári (piano)Composer: MozartThough the booklet makes no reference to the use of period instruments, the tonal quality and style of performance would place this disc within that category. The ...
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ReviewPaganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: A Romanian violinist proves his virtuoso mettle in solo PaganiniMusicians: Razvan Stoica (violin)Composer: PaganiniPaganini’s music is a proving ground for virtuosity and this, surely, is what ensures its enduring appeal. Razvan Stoica’s approach to the Caprices here suggests that virtuosity is his ...
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ReviewThe Fire That Breaks from Thee. Holst: Walt Whitman Overture. Milford: Violin Concerto in G minor, op.47. Stanford: Violin Concerto no.2 in G minor, op.162
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Two rediscovered English concertos given ideal interpretative advocacyMusicians: Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) BBC Concert Orchestra/Owain Arwel HughesComposer: Holst, Milford, StanfordHolst’s rarely heard early Walt Whitman Overture, with hints of ceremonial Wagner, is a fitting up-beat to his teacher Stanford’s Second Violin Concerto, which ...
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ReviewFinnissy: Mississippi Hornpipes; Seterjentens’ fridag; Amphithétre des sciences mortes; Jive; Molly House; Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Demonstrating the playful side of Michael Finnissy’s complexityMusicians: Darragh Morgan (violin) Mary Dullea (piano) Michael Finnissy (additional keyboards)Composer: FinnissyIn the first of this album’s radically inventive transformations of older material, Michael Finnissy shoots dissonance and violence into the veins of folk tunes ...
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ReviewFrench Cello Sonatas II. Fauré: Romance in A major op.69; Berceuse in D major op.16; Élégie in C minor op.24; Three Romances Without Words op.17. Franck: Cello Sonata in A major. Saint-Saëns: Cello So
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Warm-toned playing in a second instalment of French cello worksMusicians: Julian Steckel (cello) Paul Rivinius (piano)Composer: Fauré, Franck, Saint-SaënsGerman duo Steckel and Rivinius follow up their well-received 2011 French Cello Sonatas disc with an equally rewarding second instalment. Franck’s Sonata opens in ...
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ReviewBrahms: Piano Trio no.3 in C minor op.101. Schubert: Piano Trio no.2 in E flat major D929
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: A worthwhile Wigmore recital coupling 19th-century blockbuster triosMusicians: Sitkovetsky TrioComposer: Brahms, SchubertNamed after its violinst, Alexander Sitkovetsky (a relative of violinist–conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky), this trio is captured in full flight at a Wigmore Hall concert, with scintillating playing with which it is ...
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ReviewBoccherini: Cello Sonatas no.1 in A minor; no.2 in C major; no.6 in A major. Cirri: Cello Sonatas op.15: no.3 in F major; no.4 in A major; no.5 in G minor
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Stylish sonatas from two quintessential Baroque composersMusicians: Catherine Jones (cello) Giulia Nuti (harpsichord) Alison McGillivray (cello) William Carter (archlute/guitar)Composer: Boccherini, CirriBoccherini’s richly decorated, galant melodic idiom is difficult to realise successfully, especially while contending with brilliant left-hand passagework in the upper register, ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Piano Trio in D major op.70 no.1 ‘Ghost’. Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor op.50. Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words op.62 no.4, op.102 no.4 & op.19b no.1 (arr. Kowalewski)
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Persuasive and well-proportioned playing with a rich toneMusicians: Petrof Piano TrioComposer: Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, MendelssohnThe Petrof players perform the outer movements of Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ Trio with excitement and energy. In the first they sweep though the composer’s dialogue and counterpoint as if engaged ...
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ReviewBach: Three Solo Partitas in B minor BWV1002, D minor BWV1004 & E major BWV1006
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Solo masterpieces up close and personal, warts and allMusicians: Gunar Letzbor (Baroque violin)Composer: Bach‘Bach in private’, promises Gunar Letzbor’s apologium for a recording so close, dry and frankly airless that you feel you might be standing a metre or two away from ...
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ReviewAlbéniz: Tango op.165 no.2 (arr. Kreisler). Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Székeley). Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas (arr. Kochanski); Danse espagnole from La vida breve (arr. Kreisler
The Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Passion and portamento from a young American violinistMusicians: Emil Altschuler (violin) Keunyoung Sun (piano)Composer: Albéniz, Bartók, Falla, Poulenc, RavelFrom the start this CD is let down by its recording quality, which, despite a seemingly close-in mic, often renders the violin metallic and ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Piano Trios: no.1 in D minor op.49; no.2 in C minor op.66
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: May 2015Description: Power and symphonic sweep in Mendelssohn’s two triosMusicians: Aquinas Piano TrioComposer: MendelssohnCaptured in opulent sound of unusual depth that gently cushions the music’s semiquaver brilliance, the emotional kinship between Mendelssohn and the Schumann–Brahms tradition has rarely been so powerfully conveyed. ...
