All Reviews articles – Page 116
-
ReviewBoulez: Anthèmes I. Ysaÿe: Solo Sonatas nos.2 & 4. Sciarrino: 6 Capricci. Widmann: Etudes nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Violin wizardry in a recital that plays off works from different eras against each otherMusicians: Carolin Widmann (violin)Composer: Boulez, Ysaÿe, Sciarrino, Widmann Response to Carolin Widmann’s Ysaÿe is inevitably coloured by the modern works that surround it – maybe her own playing ...
-
ReviewBach: Six Cello Suites BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Refreshingly understated accounts of Bach’s suitesMusicians: Viola de Hoog (cello)Composer: BachVersatile Dutch cellist Viola de Hoog offers substantially introverted accounts of Bach’s suites. Some characteristics of her mentor, Anner Bylsma, shine through her stylish interpretations, but her fertile musical imagination and detailed, ...
-
ReviewWalton: Cello Concerto, Passacaglia for cello solo. Hindemith: Cello Concerto (1940), Sonata for solo cello
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A highly satisfying coupling of two composers’ music for celloMusicians: Christian Poltéra (cello) SÁo Paolo Symphony Orchestra/Frank ShipwayComposer: Walton, HindemithChristian Poltéra is at the top of his game in these works by two composers whose friendship lasted much of their ...
-
ReviewShostakovich: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: Searching and haunting accounts of Shostakovich’s two concertosMusicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/John StorgŠrdsComposer: ShostakovichChristian Tetzlaff might have been born to play the Shostakovich concertos. His questing spirit, penetrating tonal inflections and clarity of vision are ideally suited to ...
-
ReviewJanácek: Violin Sonata, Dumka, Romance, Allegro. Suk: Four Pieces op.17. Dvorák: Romantic Pieces op.75, Nocturne op.40
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2015Description: A rewarding recital of highways and byways of Czech violin musicMusicians: Jennifer Pike (violin) Tom Poster (piano)Composer: Janácek, Suk, DvorákLaunching this coherent Czech collection, Jennifer Pike skilfully and imaginatively balances the Romantic and modernist elements in Janácek’s Violin Sonata, as ...
-
ReviewViolino 1: Austrian Violin Music c.1680. Anonymous Austrian violin works
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A highly successful endeavour to give life to the music of forgotten 17th-century composersMusicians: Veronika Skuplik (Baroque violin) Evangelina Mascardi (lute)Composer: AnonymousThis label’s aims, to offer young artists a platform and make accessible lesser-known early music repertoire, are amply fulfilled in this ...
-
ReviewPolish Cello Music. Works by Lutoslawski, Bujarski, H. Jablonski, Tansman, Meyer, M. Jablonski, Hans & Penderecki
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Vivid playing in works written for different numbers of cellosMusicians: Jan Kalinowski, Beata Urbanek-Kalinowska, Anna Armatys-Borrelli, Karolina Jaroszewska, Marcin MÄ…czyŠ„ski, Franciszek Pall, Michal MichaŠ‚ DÄ…bek, Monika Gernot, Marta Nagawiecka, Aleksandra Lelek (cello)Composer: Lutoslawski, Bujarski, H. Jablonski, TansmanIt’s hard to have too many ...
-
ReviewSchubert: Violin Sonata in A major D574. Gershwin: Five pieces from Porgy and Bess (arr. Heifetz). Dinescu: Etude de nuages. Ravel: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Performances that lack a sense of personal involvement from the young playersMusicians: Marie-Claudine Papadopoulos (violin) Dimitri Papadopoulos (piano)Composer: Schubert, Gershwin, Dinescu, RavelThe young French-born violinist Marie-Claudine Papadopoulos was awarded first prize in the German Association of Arts and Culture’s ‘Ton und Erklärung’ ...
-
ReviewRöntgen: String Trios no.13 in A major, no.14 in C minor, no.15 in C sharp minor & no.16 in C sharp minor
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Characterful playing of works in a late flowering of 19th-century styleMusicians: Offenburg String TrioComposer: RöntgenThe Offenburg String Trio plays these Röntgen trios with style and evident affection. And why not? This collection of 16 trios must be a treasure trove for all ...
-
ReviewPanufnik: String Quartets nos.1—3. Lutoslawski: String Quartet
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Two contrasting strands of 20th-century Polish musicMusicians: Tippett QuartetComposer: Panufnik, LutoslawskiA striking aspect of the iridescent sound world of Lutoslawski’s String Quartet, given the high degree of aleatoric freedom involved – within episodes, individual gestures are left deliberately uncoordinated – is how ...
-
ReviewPaganini: 24 Caprices op.1
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: An effective attempt at ‘authentic’ Paganini let down by poor intonationMusicians: Roberto Noferini (violin)Composer: PaganiniI have reviewed some excellent recordings of Paganini’s op.1 in my time, but this is the first to come my way using gut strings and an early 19th-century ...
-
ReviewMoór: Cello Concerto no.2 in C sharp minor, op.64, Concerto in D major for two cellos and orchestra op.691, Prelude in E major op.123
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Beautiful playing of neglected repertoireMusicians: Péter Szabó, Ildikó Szabó (cello), Miskolc Symphony Orchestra/Zsolt HamarComposer: MoórIn 1910 Pablo Casals made his Viennese debut playing the second cello concerto of his friend, the irascible Hungarian Emanuel Moór. Casals and Moór had met in 1905 ...
-
ReviewKuhlau: Violin Sonatas vol.1: Sonatas in E flat major op.64, in F major op.79 no.1, in A minor op.79 no.2 & in C major op.79 no.3
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: Largely successful accounts of sonatas by the German—Danish composerMusicians: Duo Šstrand/SaloComposer: KuhlauPursuing their mission to disseminate Danish music, Christina Šstrand and Per Salo champion four sonatas by native German Friedrich Kuhlau, who took Danish citizenship in 1813. The works date from the ...
-
ReviewMenahem Pressler — The 90th Birthday Celebration. Dvorák: Piano Quintet in A major op.81. Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major D667 ‘The Trout’
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A veteran of one of the great chamber ensembles still going strong at 90Musicians: Ebène Quartet, Benjamin Berlioz (double bass) Menahem Pressler (piano)Composer: Dvorák, SchubertRecorded live in Paris, this memorable tribute to long-time Beaux Arts Trio pianist Menahem Pressler captures the nonagenarian’s ...
-
ReviewJanácek: Idyll, Suite, Znelka I, String Quartet no.1 ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’ (arr. Kovacic)
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A quartet writ large and works from the composer’s early yearsMusicians: Wroclaw Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum / Ernst KovacicComposer: JanácekPerhaps still better known as a violinist, Ernst Kovacic has since 2007 been artistic director of the Wroclaw Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum in Poland, with ...
-
ReviewAmerican Chamber Music. Copland: Violin Sonata. Ives: Largo. Bernstein: Piano Trio. Carter: Elegy. Barber: String Quartet in B minor op.11
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: An engaging survey of chamber music through a variety of genresMusicians: James Ehnes (violin) Ehnes Quartet, Musicians of the Seattle Chamber Music SocietyComposer: Copland, Ives, Bernstein, Carter, BarberAlthough in many ways Charles Ives was a one-off as a composer, he also proved ...
-
ReviewChopin: Cello Sonata op.65, Etude op.10 no.6 (arr. Glazunov), Wiosna op.74 no.2. Schumann: Adagio and Allegro op.70, Träumerei op.15 no.7 (arr. Davidoff), Im wunderschönen Monat Mai op.48 no.1
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A double bassist appropriates music for cello and for voice with successMusicians: Orazio Ferrari (double bass) Marco Sanna (piano)Composer: Chopin, SchumannIt shouldn’t still come as a surprise when a double bassist plays almost as flexibly as a cellist, but this is a ...
-
ReviewBritten: Simple Symphony op.4, Rhapsody, Quartettino, Phantasy in F minor, String Quartet in F major
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A fascinating insight into the early works of a master of the quartetMusicians: Emperor Quartet, John Metcalfe (viola)Composer: BrittenThis is the third instalment of the Emperor Quartet’s cycle of Britten’s complete works for string quartet. With the three numbered quartets already covered, ...
-
ReviewBartók: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2, Solo Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: A particularly lyrical approach to Bartók’s major chamber works for violinMusicians: Barnabás Kelemen (violin) Zoltán Kocsis (piano)Composer: BartókBartók’s First Violin Sonata has been notoriously diffident in offering up its inner secrets, and the available recorded versions take many differing views. This new ...
-
ReviewAlbéniz: Córdoba. Vivaldi: Violin Sonata RV10 (arr. Respighi). Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821. Bach: Andante from Sonata no.1 in G major BWV1027
The Strad Issue: December 2014Description: An interesting recital let down by deficiencies of phrasingMusicians: Tessitori: Isabel Pereira (viola) JoÁo Loureiro (guitar)Composer: Albéniz, Vivaldi, Schubert, BachThere is arguably a case for playing Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata with a guitar in lieu of a piano, this being a quintessential instrument ...
