All Reviews articles – Page 144
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ReviewInner Voice. Britten: Lachrymae op.48. Rochberg: Viola Sonata. Pärt: spiegel im spiegel. Shostakovich: Viola Sonata in C major op.147
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A rewarding exploration of 20th-century music for viola and pianoMusicians: Peter Minkler (viola) Lura Johnson (piano)Composer: Britten, Rochberg, Pärt, ShostakovichThis lovingly recorded CD presents a well-planned recital of central viola repertoire from the mid- to late 20th century. Britten’s Lachrymae, the oldest ...
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Review135 Years of Czech Composers. Works by Smetana, Dvorák, Fibich, Nová?ek, Janácek, Schulhoff, Martinu & Suk
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A generally successful survey of Czech violin repertoireMusicians: Yvonne Smeulers (violin) Sander Sittig (piano)Composer: Smetana, Dvorák, Fibich, Nová?ek, Janácek, Schulhoff, Martinu & SukAs anyone who has seen her play will testify, Yvonne Smeulers is a born performer who immerses herself fully in ...
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ReviewBeethoven: String Quartets opp.127, 130, 131, 132, 133 & 135
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Technically refined performances that come across as just a little too ordinaryMusicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: BeethovenDefining Beethoven’s late quartets as touchstones of the greatness of Western civilisation has become a cliché, but this admirably clear and straightforward set of recordings by the Cypress ...
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ReviewFranz Liszt and the Violin. Liszt: Grand duo concertant sur la romance de ‘Le marin’ (C.P. Lafont), La lugubre gondola, Die drei Zigeuner, Epithalam, Hungarian Rhapsody no.12, Duo in C sharp minor
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An exploration of a lesser-known aspect of the composer–pianist’s outputMusicians: Thomas Albertus Irnberger (violin) Edoardo Torbianelli (piano)Composer: LisztLiszt is not a composer one would normally associate with the intimacy of the chamber room, nor the violin as a solo instrument, making this ...
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ReviewBach: Violin Concertos in A minor BWV1041 & E major BWV1042, Concerto for two violins in D minor BWV1043, Air from Orchestral Suite no.3 in D major BWV1068, Largo from Keyboard Concerto in F minor BWV
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Successful Bach performances that eschew period fashionMusicians: Anne Akiko Meyers (violin) English Chamber Orchestra/Steven MercurioComposer: Bach, Bach/Gounod Anne Akiko Meyers’s robust, incisive and uncomplicated performances of Bach’s two violin concertos go back to a style of playing that pre-dates today’s fashion for ...
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ReviewElgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61. Bach: Violin Concerto in A minor BWV1041
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A veteran soloist renews his commitment to a great concertoMusicians: Pinchas Zukerman (violin) Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin MehtaComposer: Elgar & BachPinchas Zukerman recorded a notable account of the Elgar Concerto back in 1976 with Daniel Barenboim and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in particularly ...
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ReviewBach: Suites for solo cello BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Period authenticity extends to the instruments in this Bach cycleMusicians: Richard Tunnicliffe (cello)Composer: BachBritish cellist Richard Tunnicliffe is just as likely to be found behind a viol, as a member of viol consort Fretwork. But as a teacher of Baroque and Classical ...
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ReviewGoossens: Violin Sonatas no.1 in E minor op.21 & no.2 op.50, Lyric Poem op.35, Old Chinese Folksong op.4 no.1, Romance op.57
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Melodious sonatas by a musical polymathMusicians: Robert Gibbs (violin) Gusztáv Feny? (piano)Composer: GoossensBorn in London in 1893, Eugene Goossens was the third generation to carry that name in a dynasty that produced many eminent musicians. He was possibly the most gifted, though ...
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ReviewPetits-Fours: Favourite Encores.Works by
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A birthday cake of a release to celebrate a leading quartet’s four decades of playingMusicians: Brodsky Quartet, Robert Smissen (viola)*† Philip Edward Fisher (piano)† Composer: Sarasate, Falla, Elgar, Dvorák, Schumann*, Kreisler† , Mendelssohn, Godowsky, Ravel, Prokofiev, Shostakovich & DebussyTo celebrate the ...
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ReviewLatin Perspective. Brouwer: Quintet for guitar and string quartet, Beatlerianas. Del Águila: Presto II. Alvarez: Metro chabacano
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Music for string quartet and guitar from Latin AmericaMusicians: Santiago Quartet, Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas (guitar)Composer: Brouwer, Del Águila, AlvarezThe Santiago Quartet was founded to perform Latin American music by living composers, and this recording focuses on works by the Cuban Leo Brouwer. ...
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ReviewLegacy. Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61. Kreisler: various works (arr. Van der Heijden/Garrett)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A classical release from a crossover star ultimately disappointsMusicians: David Garrett (violin) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Ion MarinComposer: Beethoven, Kreisler (arr. Van der Heijden/Garrett) German violinist and child prodigy David Garrett was offered his first Stradivari at the age of ...
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ReviewDvorák: String Quintet in G major op.77, Nocturne op.40, Scherzo from String Quintet in E flat major op.97
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Masterly account of an unusually scored string quintetMusicians: Berlin Philharmonic QuintetComposer: Dvorák The comparative neglect of Dvo?ák’s glorious G major String Quintet is almost entirely due to its unusual scoring for two violins, viola, cello and double ...
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ReviewTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major op.35. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A young prizewinner lays out his stall in two concerto warhorsesMusicians: Ray Chen (violin) Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Daniel HardingComposer: Tchaikovsky & MendelssohnIn 2008 the 19-year-old Ray Chen won the Menuhin Competition playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. The following year he won ...
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ReviewVerdi: String Quartet in E minor. Puccini: Crisantemi, 3 Minuets, 3 Fugues, Allegro moderato, Scherzo–Allegro
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Mixed results in string quartets by two Italian operatic mastersMusicians: Rome QuartetComposer: Verdi, PucciniThe Rome Quartet makes a speciality of Italian repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries, as we are informed in the entertainingly mal-translated booklet. Hence the presence of the ...
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ReviewGlazunov: String Quartets no.3 in G major op.26 ‘Slavonic’ & no.4 in A minor op.64, Idyll
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Immaculate performances of neglected Russian music for string quartetMusicians: Zemlinsky Quartet, Christoph Ess (horn)Composer: GlazunovIt was with his five string quartets that the young Glazunov first drew attention to himself, and had they carried the name of Borodin, they would surely have ...
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ReviewMozart: Violin Concertos no.3 in G major K216 & no.5 in A major K219, Rondo in C major K373, Adagio in E major K261
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Freshly reconsidered Mozart from a young German–Japanese violinistMusicians: Susanna Yoko Henkel (violin) Lithuanian Chamber OrchestraComposer: MozartThe weighty orchestral opening to Mozart’s Third Concerto here sets the scene for performances that do not spend time looking for supposed period authenticity, but simply play ...
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ReviewBuxtehude: 7 Suonate op.2
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Trio sonatas by a composer best known for his organ and vocal musicMusicians: Purcell QuartetComposer: BuxtehudeThis disc complements the Purcell Quartet’s recording of Buxtehude’s only other published chamber collection, the seven sonatas op.1, matching it in unanimity, incisiveness and tonal transparency. ?Both ...
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ReviewFox: für Johannes Kepler; BLANK; Trümmermusik: A Berlin Diary 1947; Generic Composition #8; Natural Science; Sol-Fa Canon for Aldo Clementi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Weird and wonderful sounds for strings and electronicsMusicians: Trio Scordatura, Scott McLaughlin (electric guitar)Composer: FoxAs its name might suggest, the Amsterdam-based Trio Scordatura specialises in music that employs unusual and often ear-tweaking tuning systems, using the startling sound combination of voice (doubling ...
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Review1600. Works by G. Gabrieli, Merula, Salvatore, Macque, Frescobaldi, Castello, Zanetti, Marini, Legrenzi, Bononcini, Torelli, dall’Abaco & Anon
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A vivid portrait of a key century in the development of instrumental musicMusicians: Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini (harpsichord, organ, director)Composer: G. Gabrieli, Merula, Salvatore, Macque, Frescobaldi, Castello, Zanetti, Marini, Legrenzi, Bononcini, Torelli, dall’Abaco & AnonRinaldo Alessandrini’s fascinating programme of largely 17th-century instrumental music ...
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ReviewSpohr: Complete String Quartets vol.15: no.19 in A major op.68* & no.22 in D minor op.74 no.3†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Recordings that fail to get to grips with the composer’s aestheticMusicians: Moscow Philharmonic Concertino Quartet*, New Budapest Quartet† Composer: SpohrLouis Spohr was an extraordinary violinist with firmly held aesthetic views, of which we know much from his Violinschüle of 1833. Thus it ...
