All Reviews articles – Page 138
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ReviewTales of Enchantment. Guy: Hommage Á Max Bill, Going Home for solo double bass, Tales of Enchantment. Biber: Mystery Sonatas nos.6, 9 & 15. Kurtág: Hommage Á J.S.B. Trad.: Veni Creator Spiritus
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A violin–bass partnership explores music new and oldMusicians: Maya Homburger (Baroque violin) Barry Guy (double bass)Composer: Guy, Biber, KurtágThe tantalisingly narrow divide between musical free-falling and reassuring certainty is a special feature of this immaculately engineered duo recital. The seven pieces that ...
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ReviewBrahms: Piano Quintet in F minor op.34, Clarinet Quintet in B minor op.115
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A cantabile approach to Brahms that works better in one work than the otherMusicians: Tokyo Quartet, Jon Nakamatsu (piano) Jon Manasse (clarinet)Composer: Brahms Here are two cherishable masterworks unmistakably by the same composer yet utterly different in expressive profile. The Piano Quintet ...
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ReviewFauré: Piano Quintet no.2 in C minor op.115, Piano Trio in D minor op.120, La bonne chanson op.61
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Performances that tap the nostalgic element in Fauré’s musicMusicians: London Bridge Ensemble, Matthew Truscott (violin) Graham Mitchell (double bass)Composer: Fauré The London Bridge Ensemble’s passionate first movement of Fauré’s Second Piano Quintet, with its moments of sad reflectiveness, sets ...
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ReviewDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104, Symphony no.9 in D minor ‘From the New World’
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An interesting Italianate take on a Czech masterpieceMusicians: Mario Brunello (cello) Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio PappanoComposer: Dvorák This live recording made during the Santa Cecilia orchestra’s 2011/12 season couples a feisty account of Dvo?ák’s ‘New World’ Symphony ...
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ReviewGál: Serenade in D major op.41; Trio in F sharp minor op.104. Krása: Tanec; Passacaglia and Fuga
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A disc of string trios where time and place play an inescapable roleMusicians: Ensemble Epomeo: Caroline Chin (violin) David Yang (viola) Kenneth Woods (cello)Composer: Gál, Krása Here is music for string trio by two composers of Jewish heritage from the ...
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ReviewShostakovich: Violin Concerto no.1 in A minor op.99. Barber: Violin Concerto op.14
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Authoritative performances marred by unhelpful recorded balanceMusicians: Dylana Jenson (violin) London Symphony Orchestra/David LockingtonComposer: Shostakovich & Barber Dylana Jenson’s career has been a patchy saga of early success in the 1980s scuppered by the removal of a loaned Guarneri. ...
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ReviewSouvenir. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings in C major op.48, Souvenir de Florence op.70 Nielsen At the Bier of a Young Artist, Suite for string orchestra op.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Surround sound brings a new aural experience to music for string orchestraMusicians: Trondheim SoloistsComposer: TchaikovskyRecorded in the round, all four pieces here place the listener in the centre of the aural picture, but the distribution of the players around the ...
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ReviewHaydn: String Quartets op.76 nos.1–6
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Haydn performances where the jokes too often fall flatMusicians: Wilanów QuartetComposer: Haydn The award-winning Wilanów players invest their wealth of experience and artistic sensibility in these recordings of Haydn’s popular op.76 set. Their readings are civilised, warm-toned and technically ...
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ReviewMišek Double Bass Sonatas no.1 in A major op.5 & no.2 in E minor op.6, Concert–Polonaise
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Elegant performances of rare double bass repertoireMusicians: Szymon Marciniak (double bass) Joanna Lawrynowicz (piano)Composer: Mišek Polish-born Szymon Marciniak, now principal double bassist of The Hague Philharmonic, puts in impressive performances on his first volume of sonatas and miniatures by ...
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ReviewThe Unknown Enescu Vol.1: Music for Violin. Works by George Enescu
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome exploration of lesser-known gems from the Romanian masterMusicians: Sherban Lupu (violin/conductor) Masumi Per Rostad (viola) Marin Cazacu, Dmitry Kouzov (cello) Ian Hobson, Ilinca Dumitrescu, Samir Golescu (piano) Enescu Ensemble of the University of IllinoisComposer: EnescuThis CD has two geographical centres: ...
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ReviewImaginary Room
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A generally enjoyable album from an up-and-coming Polish jazz violinistMusicians: Adam Baldych (violin) The Baltic GangComposer: Adam Baldych Young Polish violinist Adam Baldych is beginning to make a name for himself, and the calibre of this line-up – featuring leading Scandinavian jazz ...
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ReviewTelemann: Twelve Fantasias for solo violin
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Too many problems of execution mar an otherwise promising performanceMusicians: Lara Hall (violin)Composer: Telemann It is perplexing that someone as well versed in period violin playing as Lara Hall has chosen to realise Telemann’s fantasias on a modern violin with the goal ...
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ReviewDebussy: String Quartet in G minor. Ravel: String Quartet in F major
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Fresh light brought to a familiar coupling of French quartetsMusicians: Talich QuartetComposer: Debussy & RavelIn their highly distinctive ways, these indelible chamber masterworks steer a tantalising musical course between neo-Romanticism and neo-Classicism, with Debussy leaning towards the former, Ravel the latter. Performances ...
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ReviewBronislav Gimpel. Works by Sibelius*, Szymanowski† , Wieniawski‡, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Janácek, Tartini & Rathaus
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding archive collection from a Polish—American virtuoso of the ‘old school’Musicians: Bronislav Gimpel (violin) MartinuKrause (piano) RIAS Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Lehmann*, Alfred Gohlke‡, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Arthur Rother† Composer: Sibelius, Szymanowski, Wieniawski, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Janácek, Tartini & RathausBronislav Gimpel (1911–79) was ...
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ReviewA Different World. Works by Barkauskas, Balsys, Schittino, Salonen, Sher, MacMillan, Watkins & Bacewicz
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A fascinating survey of modern bravura violin repertoireMusicians: Diana Galvydyte (violin) Christopher Guild (piano)Composer: Barkauskas, Balsys, Schittino, Salonen, Sher, MacMillan, Watkins & BacewiczFor this diverse and intriguing disc, Lithuanian violinist Diana Galvydyte brings together contemporary works from the mid-20th century onwards, exploring ...
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ReviewThe Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould. Works and Bach arrangements by Silvestrov, Pelecis, Raskatov, Wustin, Vine, Serksnyte, Kancheli, Desyatnikov, Poleva, Tickmayer & Kissine
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A tribute to the Canadian pianist proves more of a homage to BachMusicians: Gidon Kremer (violin) Kremerata BalticaComposer: Silvestrov, Pelecis, Raskatov, Wustin, Vine, Serksnyte, Kancheli, Desyatnikov, Poleva, Tickmayer & Kissine Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Glenn Gould’s birth in the ...
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ReviewBrittelle: Loving the Chambered Nautilus, Future Shock (for string quartet), Acid Rain on the Mirrordome, Future Shock (for cello), Loon Birds in Meshed Crystal
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Rewards aplenty on a disc where pop meets art musicMusicians: Caroline Shaw (violin) Caleb Burhans (violin/vocals/banjo) Nadia Sirota (viola) Clarice Jensen (cello) Eric Lamb (flute) Megan Levin (harp)Composer: Brittelle On his website, young Brooklyn-based musician William Brittelle describes himself ...
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ReviewSchubert: String Quintet in C major D956
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An account that brings out the depths of light and shade in Schubert’s masterpieceMusicians: Arcanto Quartet, Olivier Marron (cello)Composer: Schubert By employing two cellos in place of the more conventional pair of violas, Schubert heightened the textural contrasts that ...
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ReviewBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77. Berg: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Intense performances of two classics of the concerto repertoireMusicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: Brahms & BergRenaud Capuçon with the Vienna Philharmonic (VPO) and Daniel Harding form a rich and heady team. These are muscular, forthright performances, which hide nothing ...
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ReviewDebussy: Cello Sonata. Fauré: Élégie, Romance op.69, Papillon op.77. Britten: Cello Sonata in C major op.65. Bridge: Mélodie, Scherzo, Spring Song
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An auspicious recorded debut from a young Scottish cellistMusicians: Philip Higham (cello) Simon Lane (piano)Composer: Debussy, Fauré, Britten, BridgePhilip Higham plays with the conviction of a far more mature soloist in this debut disc with pianist Simon Lane. Higham, who ...
