All Reviews articles – Page 136
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ReviewPenderecki: String quartets nos.1, 2 & 3 ‘Leaves of an Unwritten Diary’. Lutoslawski: String Quartet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Vivid performances of music by two Polish mastersMusicians: Royal QuartetComposer: Penderecki, LutoslawskiFormed in Warsaw in 1998, the Royal Quartet has already garnered high praise for its recordings of Szymanowski and Górecki (reviewed in February 2009 and May 2011 respectively). And ...
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ReviewProkofiev: Complete works for violin and piano – Violin Sonatas no.1 in F minor op.80 & no.2 in D major op.94b, Cinq mélodies op.35b
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: High-intensity playing has mixed results in ProkofievMusicians: Isabelle van Keulen (violin) Ronald Brautigam (piano)Composer: ProkofievWhat emerges most clearly from Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keulen’s very accomplished Prokofiev disc is her astonishingly adaptable, flexible sound, with vibrato, tone, attack and phrasing all shifting ...
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ReviewBach: Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004. Beethoven: Violin Sonata in A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ Wieniawski Scherzo–Tarantelle op.16. Brahms: Hungarian Dance no.1 in G minor (transc. Joachim)
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Recorded sound mars a record of Vengerov’s return to the concert stageMusicians: Maxim Vengerov (violin) Itamar Golan (piano)Composer: Bach, Beethoven, Wieniawski, Brahms (transc. Joachim)From the opening bars of this Wigmore Hall concert – Maxim Vengerov’s comeback in April 2012 – ears have ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Concerto for violin, cello and piano in C major op.56, Piano Trio in E flat major op.1 no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A well-integrated ensemble in both concerto and chamber contextsMusicians: Claremont Trio, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra/MartinuWestComposer: BeethovenMartinuWest secures incisive playing from the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra in the opening tutti of the ‘Triple’ Concerto, a work that ought by rights to ...
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ReviewHefti: Ph(r)asen, Guggisberg Variations, Mobile, con fuoco
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Recent music for quartet played with theatricalityMusicians: Leipzig QuartetComposer: HeftiYoung Swiss composer David Philip Hefti (b.1975) has produced four string quartets so far, and they’re a wildly contrasting bunch, full of music that’s hard to classify. From the skittering speech imitations in ...
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ReviewRavel: Violin Sonata in G major. Bloch: Poème mystique. Janá?ek: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A disappointing recital of 20th-century violin masterworksMusicians: Christina Šstrand (violin) Per Salo (piano)Composer: Ravel, Bloch, JanácekThis new release from Christina Åstrand, the principal concertmaster of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, is recorded in the acoustic of a large empty concert hall, which ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Violin Sonatas (complete)
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A masterly set that combines Beethovenian ferocity and gentlenessMusicians: Leonidas Kavakos (violin) Enrico Pace (piano)Composer: BeethovenLeonidas Kavakos plays Beethoven’s early violin sonatas with a nice sense of scale. The expressive vibrato is just warm enough, the melodies are exquisitely but ...
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ReviewElgar: Cello Concerto in E minor op.85. Smetana: Vyšehrad, Vltava, Š árka from Má Vlast
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Mixed results in a live account of Elgar’s concertoMusicians: Zuill Bailey (cello) Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Krzysztof UrbanskiComposer: Elgar, SmetanaZuill Bailey radiates warmth and professional poise in this live recording of Elgar’s Concerto, but its sense of immediacy may not be enough to excuse ...
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ReviewKhachaturian: Concerto–Rhapsody in B flat minor, Sonata–Monologue. Lyapunov: Violin Concerto in D minor op.61
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Old-world charm in music from Armenia and RussiaMusicians: Hideko Udagawa (violin) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan BuribayevComposer: Khachaturian, LyapunovKhachaturian’s Concerto–Rhapsody is a more subtly argued and expressively shaded work than the Violin Concerto, although it lacks the latter’s raw emotional power and sheer memorability. ...
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ReviewBrahms: String Quartet in B flat major op.671. Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht op.42
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A warmly played coupling of two Viennese classicsMusicians: Ysaÿe Quartet, Isabel Charisius2 (viola) Valentin Erben2 (cello)Composer: Brahms, SchoenbergIt was Schoenberg who recognised the progressive in Brahms in his famous centenary tribute, so the two composers make an apt match on disc. Here, ...
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ReviewKlughardt: String Quartet in F major op.42, Piano Quintet in G minor op. 431
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A revival of a neglected 19th-century composer’s music on period instrumentsMusicians: Pleyel Quartet, Tobias Koch (piano)Composer: KlughardtAugust Klughardt (1847–1902) is one of the forgotten figures of German music, yet his profile is an interesting one, straddling both Wagner and the Classical style. ...
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ReviewDavid: Salon–Duett op.25, Suite op.43, Twelve Salon–Stücke op.24, Trois impromptus en forme de Valse
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A disappointing outing for some unjustly neglected repertoireMusicians: Stephan Schardt (violin) Philipp Vogler (piano)Composer: Ferdinand DavidStephan Schardt here unearths an attractive selection of Ferdinand David’s rich, yet sorely neglected legacy of violin compositions. Although he claims a willingness to introduce the subtle ...
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ReviewNordic Violin Music – Tschetschulin: Berceuse. Aulin: Four Aquarelles. Sinding: Romanze op.79 no.23. Carlson: Violin Sonata in E flat minor op.64
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Illuminating performances of a neglected area of repertoireMusicians: Annemarie Šström (violin) Sonja Fräki, Emil Holmström (piano)Composer: Tschetschulin, Aulin, Sinding, CarlsonThe young Finnish violinist Annemarie Åström has built up a collection of Scandinavian fiddle pieces, some little-known abroad, some hardly known at home. ...
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ReviewIN2ITION
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A missed opportunity to give substance to the concept of the rock celloMusicians: 2Cellos: Stjepan Hauser, Luka Sulic (cello), also featuring Elton John, Steve Vai, Naya Rivera, Lang Lang, Sky Ferreira & ZuccheroComposer: VariousThis Croatian duo was signed to Sony on the ...
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ReviewItalian Journey - Respighi: String Quartet in D major. Puccini: Crisantemi. Verdi: String Quartet in E minor. Boccherini: String Quartet in C major op.2 no.6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: An outstanding collection of Italian quartet repertoireMusicians: Cremona QuartetComposer: Respighi, Puccini, Verdi, BoccheriniThis well-chosen programme offsets arguably the three finest quartet works of the Italian Romantic tradition (all, to varying degrees, influenced by Wagner) with one of Boccherini’s most enchanting ...
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ReviewSzymon Goldberg Centenary Edition Vol.2 – commercial recordings 1932—51. Works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Paradis (arr. Dushkin), Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorák & Hindemith
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A well-produced celebration of a golden-era violinistMusicians: Various accompanists / orchestras / conductors etcComposer: Bach, Handel, Haydn, Paradis (arr. Dushkin), Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorák & HindemithFollowing up on Music & Arts’s wonderful volume of Goldberg’s live performances (not reviewed), this collection ...
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ReviewChartreuse – Mozart: Violin Sonata in B flat major K454. Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major op.18
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A well-blended recital from a refined Canadian violinistMusicians: Jasper Wood (violin) David Riley (piano)Composer: Mozart, Debussy, StraussMozart’s refined sound worlds demand absolutely clarity of technique and purity of sound, combined with interpretative warmth, nobilmente elegance and cantabile poise without the slightest hint ...
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ReviewHaydn: String Quartet in F minor op.20 no.5. Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major op.127
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A CD debut that proves to be just a little too adventurousMusicians: Hermès QuartetComposer: Haydn, BeethovenHaving won the Geneva International Music Competition in 2011, the French-based Hermès Quartet has more recently taken first prize in New York’s highly influential Young Concert Artists ...
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ReviewC. Schumann: Piano Trio in G minor op.17. R. Schumann: Piano Trio no.3 in G minor op.110, Fantasiestücke op.88
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: A welcome exploration of piano trios by the two SchumannsMusicians: Swiss Piano TrioComposer: C. Schumann, R. SchumannListening to this performance of Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, one can well understand why it was so favourably embraced by the music critics of her time. ...
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ReviewPaganini: Violin Concerto no.5 in A minor (orch. Mompellio), Moto perpetuo op.11, I palpiti op.13
The Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Paganini playing that needs more than just precisionMusicians: Ivan Pochekin (violin) Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry YablonskyComposer: PaganiniFor some years now Naxos has ceased to be seen as a budget label of workaday renditions and has attained critical acclaim. In some respects, this disc ...
