All Reviews articles – Page 146
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ReviewTurnage: A Constant Obsession, Three for Two, Four Chants, A Slow Pavane, Grazioso!
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Glowing interpretations of some recent British chamber musicMusicians: Nicky Spence (tenor) Chamber Domaine/Thomas Kemp (violin)Composer: TurnageThis fascinating and beautifully played collection (available in various file formats as a download only) brings together recent contrasting chamber works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, several with prominent ...
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ReviewDanielpour: A Child’s Reliquary. Ludwig: Concerto for Violin and Cello. Hagen: Masquerade*
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Three recent double concertos offer ample rewards to players and listenersMusicians: Jaime Laredo (violin) Sharon Robinson (cello) Vermont Symphony Orchestra/Sarah Hicks, Troy Peters*Composer: Danielpour, Ludwig, HagenThese three double concertos were written for Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson, and sit well together here. ...
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ReviewGubaidulina: The Lyre of Orpheus*, The Canticle of the Sun†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Persuasively played recordings of two expressive contemporary masterpiecesMusicians: Gidon Kremer* (violin) Nicolas Alstaedt† , Marta Sudraba* (cello) Kremerata Baltica*, Andrei Pushkarev† , Rihards Zalupe† (percussion) Rostislav Krimer† (celeste) Riga Chamber Choir Kamer/Maris Sirmais† Composer: GubaidulinaWith its explanations of complex acoustical ...
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ReviewForsyth: Viola Concerto in G minor. Martin: Ballade for viola. Bruch: Romanze in F major op.85
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Three rare works for viola and orchestra receive elegant performancesMusicians: Hartmut Rohde (viola) Philharmonie Baden-Baden/Pavel BaleffComposer: Forsyth, Martinu BruchAlthough two of them don’t sound like it at all, these three pieces were all written in the 20th century. Cecil Forsyth’s concerto, premiered ...
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ReviewChopin: Cello Sonata op.65, Piano Trio op.8
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Playing that brings out Chopin’s French-inspired styleMusicians: Olivier Charlier (violin) Antoine Pierlot (cello) Abdel Rahman El Bacha (piano)Composer: ChopinThis disc brings together three important talents steeped in the French tradition: Olivier Charlier, a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Antoine Pierlot, a nominee ...
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ReviewBerg: Violin Concerto. Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A coupling that sets two classic concertos in a new lightMusicians: Isabelle Faust (violin) Orchestra Mozart/Claudio AbbadoComposer: Berg & Beethoven In her booklet notes, Isabelle Faust credits Claudio Abbado with the idea for this CD, after they had performed both ...
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ReviewThe 5 Seasons. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons*. Sedlar: Spring in Japan†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A highly personal approach to Vivaldi’s famous concertosMusicians: Nemanja Radulović (violin), Double Sens*, The Devil’s Trills† Composer: Vivaldi & Sedlar Nemanja Radulović’s performance of The Four Seasons comes as much from the heart as it does from the printed page. He often ...
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ReviewHolbrooke: Violin Sonata no.2 ‘Grasshopper’. Bantock: Viola Sonata in F major ‘Colleen’
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Two sonatas that mine the seam of early 20th-century English RomanticismMusicians: Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin/viola) Matthew Rickard (piano)Composer: Holbrooke, BantockJoseph Holbrooke’s ‘Grasshopper’ of 1917, which exists as both violin concerto and sonata, has a confusing history, and in unearthing different elements of the ...
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ReviewBologna, 1689... La nascita del violoncello. D. Gabrielli: Ricercars etc, plus works by Vitali, Jacchini & Degli Antoni
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A CD and book package that aims to get back to the birth of the celloMusicians: Bruno Cocset (cello/bass violin/tenor violin/alto a la bastarda) Emmanuel Jacques (cello/tenor violin) Mathurin Matharel (cello) Richard Myron (double bass) Bertrand Cuiller (harpsichord, organ)Composer: D. Gabrielli, Vitali, ...
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ReviewBoccherini: Cello Sonatas in C minor G2b, A major G4, G major G5, E flat major G11, C major G17, B flat major G565, E flat major G566, F major G579, E flat major, A major ‘L’imperatrice’
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Cello playing that meets Boccherini’s many technical challenges head onMusicians: Gaetano Nasillo, Marco Vitali, Michele Tazzari (cello) Alessandro Ciccolini (violin) Jesper Christensen (harpsichord) Mara Galassi (hooked harp)Composer: Boccherini Just under one third of Boccherini’s cello sonatas are represented on ...
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ReviewBeethoven: Cello Sonata in A major op.69. Chopin: Etude op.25 no.7. Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19, Romance op.21 no.11
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Warts-and-all recordings of cello classicsMusicians: Sietse-Jan Weijenberg (cello) Yun-Yang Lee (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Chopin, RachmaninoffIf you like your recordings immediate and exciting and don’t care too much about the odd imperfection, then this disc is worth a try. Young Dutch cellist Weijenberg, fourth ...
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ReviewBach: Sonatas for Violin and Continuo BWV1014–19, BWV1021 & BWV1023
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Gutsy accounts of Bach’s accompanied violin sonatasMusicians: Florian Deuter (violin) Balázs Máté (cello) Philippe Grisvard (harpsichord)Composer: Bach Florian Deuter comes to this recording with the impeccable credentials of having served as concertmaster to a number of Europe’s major period-instrument ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Cello Sonatas no.1 in B flat major op.45 & no.2 in D major op.58, Variations concertantes op.17, Lied ohne Worte op.109
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Accounts of Mendelssohn that make the most of fraternal sympathyMusicians: Paul Watkins (cello) Huw Watkins (piano)Composer: MendelssohnThe Watkins brothers make a formidable team, and Mendelssohn’s cello works are a natural fit for them, written mostly with the composer’s cellist brother, ...
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ReviewNørgård: Violin Concertos no.1 ‘Helle Nacht’ & no.2 ‘Borderlines’, Spaces of Time
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A master violinist explores two atmospheric Nordic landscapesMusicians: Peter Herresthal (violin) Ida Mo (piano) Stavanger Symphony Orchestra/Rolf GuptaComposer: NørgårdThis compelling disc serves as much as a showcase for the unfussy, no-nonsense musicianship of Norwegian violinist Peter Herresthal as it does for the ...
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ReviewBartók: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2, Rhapsodies nos.1 & 2 (plus alternative ending for no.1), Andante in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Thrilling accounts from a player who has triumphed in Bartók ’s concertosMusicians: James Ehnes (violin) Andrew Armstrong (piano)Composer: BartókAccording to the booklet this is the first volume of Bartók’s complete works for violin and piano. It doesn’t leave much for vol.2, but ...
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ReviewGaluppi: Trio Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Sympathetic performances of chamber music by a neglected Baroque composerMusicians: Accademia Dei Solinghi: Claudio Andriani Rauler, Abramo Raule (violin) Alessandro Peiretti (cello) Rita Peiretti (harpsichord)Composer: GaluppiThe verdict of history is inevitably selective, and this may explain the obscurity of Baldassare Galuppi (1706–85), ...
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ReviewMurmurs and Drones
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A potentially involving Celtic travelogue that is let down by its presentationMusicians: Jamie Laval (violin) Ashley Broder (violin/mandolin) Robin Bullock, Zac Leger, Owen Morrison (guitar) Stuart Kenney (double bass) Kevin Krantz (cello) Rod Weeks (Scottish smallpipes) Ben Mawhorter (tablas)Composer: Trad.American fiddler Jamie ...
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ReviewNuevo Chamber
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A blend of world and chamber music from a promising new ensembleMusicians: Musical Art QuintetComposer: VariousThe Musical Art Quintet (MAQ) grew out of a San Francisco jam night in 2008 and, now as then, performs new Latin-influenced pieces written or arranged by ...
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ReviewA. Benjamin: Violin Concerto; Romantic Fantasy; Elegy, Waltz and Toccata
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An attractive disc of concertante works for violin and violaMusicians: Lorraine McAslan (violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/John GibbonsComposer: A. BenjaminThe immense popularity of Arthur Benjamin’s Jamaican Rumba has proved a bar to establishing its composer’s credentials as a serious ...
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ReviewModern American Bass. Works by Iadone, Stevens, Porter, Moross, Luening, Beyer, Childs, Perle, Sydeman, Cage, Tenney & Druckman
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A stunning exposition of mastery on the double bassMusicians: Robert Black (double bass) John McDonald (piano)Composer: Iadone, Stevens, Porter, Moross, Luening, Beyer, Childs, Perle, Sydeman, Cage, Tenney & DruckmanUS bassist Robert Black is a founder member of crack new-music group Bang on ...
