All Reviews articles – Page 143
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ReviewBach: Violin Sonatas in B minor BWV1014 & E major BWV1016, Flute Sonatas in G minor BWV1020 & B minor BWV1030, Siciliana from Flute Sonata in E flat major BWV1031 (arr. violin)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results on a disc that adopts Bach’s penchant for transcriptionMusicians: Lara St John (violin) Marie-Pierre Langlamet ?(harp)Composer: BachLara St John always seems to attempt something different. Trading on Bach’s inveterate recycling of his works in different instrumental combinations, her latest CD ...
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ReviewBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor op.38 & no.1 in F major op.99
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A disappointing coupling of two key works from a young cellistMusicians: Laura Buruiana (cello) Matei Varga (piano)Composer: Brahms Performers who record such well-known repertoire as the Brahms cello sonatas at the start of their career should be certain that ...
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ReviewBall: Cello Concerto no.1*, Song Without Words† , Roundelay† , Close of the Day† , Folksong Arrangements† , For Stjepan
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Unashamedly tuneful music played by a young star of the celloMusicians: Stjepan Hauser (cello) Yoko Misumi† (piano) Emerald Concert Orchestra/Christopher Ball*Composer: Ball The Croatian cellist Stjepan Hauser has become something of a celebrity, appearing as one half ...
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ReviewDe Machy: Suites no.1 in D minor, no.4 in G major, no.5 in D minor & no.8 in A major from Pièces de violle (1685)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Vindication for the work of a 17th-century French viol player and composerMusicians: Paolo Pandolfo (viola da gamba)Composer: De MachyPaolo Pandolfo believes that scholars have grossly underestimated de Machy’s influence on his contemporaries and successors. He aims to set the record straight with ...
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ReviewAffettuoso. Piani: Violin Sonatas op.1 no.2 in E minor, no.4 in G major, no.8 in B minor & no.10 in D major. Geminiani: Violin Sonatas op.1 no.7 in C minor & no.8 in B minor. Handel: Violin Sonata in
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A fast and furious approach to Baroque sonatas has gains and lossesMusicians: Emilio Percan (Baroque violin) Oriol Aymat Fusté (Baroque cello) Luca Quintavalle (harpsichord)Composer: Piani, Geminiani, HandelCaptured in a clear and resonant recording, Emilio Percan’s programme of Baroque repertoire is loosely connected ...
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ReviewJoubert: String Quartets no.1 in A flat major op.1, no.2 op.91 & no.3 op.112
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A worthy birthday tribute to one of Britain’s most accomplished senior composersMusicians: Brodsky QuartetComposer: Joubert The music of South African-born composer John Joubert, who settled in the UK in the 1940s and is perhaps best known for vocal music ...
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ReviewRachmaninoff: Trios élégiaques no.1 in G minor op.8 & no.2 in D minor op. 9
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An account of an early piano trio that cannot hide the work’s structural weaknessesMusicians: London Mozart TrioComposer: RachmaninoffRachmaninoff’s second Trio élégiaque was written in 1893 to mourn the death of Tchaikovsky, though it was revised twice in later life. For the 20-year-old ...
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ReviewIt Don’t Mean a Thing
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results in an attempt to bring the big-band sound to stringsMusicians: String Fever/Marin Alsop (violin)Composer: VariousSeveral years before her conducting career took off, Marin Alsop formed, as a violinist, the String Fever ensemble, and this album comprises two recording sessions of ...
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ReviewCastello/Fontana: Sonate concertate in stil moderno
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Colourful accounts of 17th-century Venetian sonatasMusicians: John Holloway (violin) Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord) Jane Gower (dulcian)Composer: Castello/FontanaOn this exemplary recording, period violinist John Holloway and his colleagues perform seven of Fontana’s 18 Sonate à 1. 2. 3. (1641), framed by six works ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Complete Piano Trios
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A benchmark set that makes a virtue of being more complete than mostMusicians: Wanderer TrioComposer: Beethoven The descriptor ‘complete’ for these four discs of Beethoven’s piano trios refers to the inclusion not only of the composer’s six ...
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ReviewKhachaturian: Concerto–Rhapsody*. Zakarian: Monograph*. Sharafyan: Suite*. Komitas Crane (arr. Sharafyan)†
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An Armenian cellist explores his musical heritageMusicians: Alexander Chaushian (cello)*† Emmanuel Hovhannisyan (duduk)† Vache Sharafyan (piano)† Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra/Eduard Topchjan*Composer: Khachaturian, Zakarian, Sharafyan, Komitas (arr. Sharafyan)Alexander Chaushian is on sparkling form in this highly enterprising and beautifully ...
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ReviewThelin: Light*, Amarcord, oibbinadocS, Shared Moments, Glasperlenspiel†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Resourceful new repertoire for double bass, played by its creatorMusicians: HŠkon Thelin (double bass) Marco Rogliano (violin)* Frank Havrøy (voice)† Composer: ThelinYoung Norwegian bassist and composer Håkon Thelin’s professed aim with his pieces on this disc is to explore what he calls ...
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ReviewAlkan: Sonate de concert. Chopin: Cello Sonata op.65
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An interesting coupling that lacks musical rewardsMusicians: Job ter Haar (cello) Vaughan Schlepp (piano)Composer: Alkan, Chopin The unattributed booklet notes for this recording state that Job ter Haar uses vibrato sparingly. In fact vibrato is so rare that ...
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ReviewHaydn: Musica instrumentale sopra le 7 ultime parole del nostro Redentore in croce … ridotte in quartetti, op.51
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A bold account of Haydn’s Passiontide meditationMusicians: Pražák QuartetComposer: HaydnIn the dignified introductory Adagio the members of the Pražák Quartet establish with due gravitas the devotional context of Haydn’s unique musical commentary on the spoken drama of Christ’s last hours. They respond ...
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ReviewArcangelo Corelli: Violin Sonatas op.5
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Rewarding performances of Corelli’s great set of violin sonatasMusicians: Trio CorelliComposer: CorelliThe often lavish and warm-hearted character of Corelli’s oeuvre is well displayed by these performances of the twelve op.5 sonatas, featuring violinist Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider, a professor at the Royal Danish ...
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ReviewSchumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major op.47, Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Two of Schumann’s great chamber works in performances of that favour light over darkMusicians: Jerusalem Quartet, Alexander Melnikov (piano)Composer: Schumann It is pleasing to hear the pairing of Schumann’s piano quartet and quintet on this disc by Moscow-trained pianist ...
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ReviewFinnissy: String Quartets nos.2 & 3
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Glowing accounts of two modern British quartets with Austrian modelsMusicians: Kreutzer QuartetComposer: FinnissyFollowing its first disc of music by the contemporary British composer Michael Finnissy back in 1998 (Métier), the Kreutzer Quartet’s second traversal of the composer’s oeuvre is a quiet triumph. ...
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ReviewBliss: String Quartet no.2. Delius: Slow movement from String Quartet ‘Late Swallows’. Purcell: Chacony (arr. Britten). Britten: String Quartet no.2 in C major op.36
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome airing for a Bliss quartet, though couplings are less convincingMusicians: Barbirolli QuartetComposer: Bliss, Delius, Purcell, Britten It is strange that Arthur Bliss’s two string quartets are so seldom performed, since the Second in particular is a highly ...
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ReviewA Tribute to Erling Blöndal Bengtsson. The Live Icelandic Recordings 1973–9: works by Elgar*, Schubert, Corelli, Weber, Chopin, Prokofiev (arr. Piatigorsky), Saint-Saëns & Rimsky-Korsakov
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A birthday tribute to a great Scandinavian cellistMusicians: Erling Blöndal Bengtsson (cello) Árni Kristjánsson (piano) Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Jean-Pierre Jacquillat*Composer: Elgar, Schubert, Corelli, Weber, Chopin, Prokofiev (arr. Piatigorsky), Saint-Saëns & Rimsky-Korsakov This CD offers a welcome opportunity to savour the skills ...
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ReviewElégie russe. Shostakovich: Viola Sonata in C major op.147. Glazunov: Elegy in G minor op.44. Tchaikovsky: Nocturne in C sharp minor, Mélodie from Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Valse sentimentale in F mino
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A viola disc exploring the more elegiac side of Russian musicMusicians: Gérard Caussé (viola) Brigitte Engerer (piano)Composer: Shostakovich, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, RachmaninoffParaphrasing Stravinsky’s famous description of Rachmaninoff, this CD could be described as ‘60 minutes of Russian gloom’. Gérard Caussé’s selection of predominantly ...
