All Reviews articles – Page 147
-
ReviewYou Ain’t Never
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Blues-style music-making from a violin-led jazz quartetMusicians: Andy Aitchison QuartetComposer: Andy Aitchison et alAlthough violinist Andy Aitchison has been around for a while, this is his first album as a leader, and from the off he puts a distinctive stamp on the music. ...
-
ReviewCarte Postale. Music by BrandÁo, Annunziata, Evangelista, Del Aguila, Nicolau, D’Rivera & Ichmouratov
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Music for string quartet with a Latin flavourMusicians: Alcan QuartetComposer: BrandÁo, Annunziata, Evangelista, Del Aguila, Nicolau, D’Rivera & IchmouratovWhen playing contemporary music of strong character that lies outside the popular mainstream, it is easy to fall into the trap of over-earnestness or ...
-
ReviewMartynov: The Beatitudes, Schubert-Quintet (Unfinished), Der Abschied
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Moving performances of Russian music with a spiritual flavourMusicians: Kronos Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud (cello)Composer: MartynovThe Kronos Quartet commissioned all these works from Russian composer Vladimir Martynov (b.1946), whose music is imbued with a deep spirituality. Like all these works The Beatitudes is ...
-
ReviewKreisler: String Quartet in A minor. Zimbalist: String Quartet in E minor. Ysaÿe: Harmonies du soir op.31
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Three major chamber works by composers who were also violin virtuososMusicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Philharmonic Orchestra of Europe/Otis KlöberComposer: Kreisler, Zimbalist, YsaÿeFritz Kreisler’s salon pieces are enshrined in the violin repertoire, but his more serious works have been largely ignored. His String ...
-
ReviewChausson: Piano Trio in G minor. Debussy: Piano Trio in G major. Rachmaninoff: Trio élégiaque No.2 in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Revelatory and benchmark recordings from a vintage trioMusicians: Vienna Schubert TrioComposer: Chausson, Debussy, RachmaninoffThose of us lucky enough to have heard the Vienna Schubert Trio – violinist Boris Kuschnir, cellist MartinuHornstein and pianist Claus-Christian Schuster – during the relatively short period of ...
-
ReviewTartini: Violin Sonata ‘Devil’s Trill’. Wieniawski: Polonaise brillante in D major op.4. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 in A minor op.25. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.2 in D major op.94b
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Promise aplenty from a young Polish violinistMusicians: Jaroslaw Nadrzycki (violin) Tadashi Imai (piano)Composer: Tartini, Wieniawski, Enescu, Prokofiev Polish player Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, 27, is relatively little known outside his homeland, but took first prizes at the Khachaturian violin competition in ...
-
ReviewBritten: Violin Concerto op.15, Double Concerto in B minor (ed. C. Matthews), Lachrymae op.48
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A powerful collection of Britten’s concertante works for violin and violaMusicians: Anthony Marwood (violin) Lawrence Power (viola) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan VolkovComposer: BrittenYou don’t have to know that Britten’s Violin Concerto was written as war broke out in 1939 to sense that ...
-
ReviewShostakovich: Viola Sonata op.147, Seven Preludes from op.34 (arr. Strakhov), Five Pieces from ‘The Gadfly’ (arr. Borisovsky)
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A collection of Shostakovich’s music for viola that extends beyond the valedictory sonataMusicians: Lawrence Power (viola) Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano) Composer: Shostakovich (arr. Strakhov and Borisovsky) Shostakovich wrote just one piece for the viola – his very last one, the ...
-
ReviewStravinsky: Divertimento. Shostakovich: Violin Sonata op.134
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Powerful recordings of two highly different Russian violin worksMusicians: Judith Ingolfsson (violin) Vladimir Stoupel (piano)Composer: Stravinsky, ShostakovichStravinsky’s Divertimento is an arrangement of the music from his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss, a homage to Tchaikovsky. Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel work hard to ...
-
ReviewHerbert: Serenade for string orchestra op.12, Seven Pieces for cello and string orchestra, Three Pieces for string orchestra
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Little-known string works by an influential composer–cellistMusicians: Maximilian Hornung (cello) Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim/Sebastian TewinkelComposer: HerbertIrish–American composer Victor Herbert (1859–1924) is best remembered for having written a cello concerto that inspired Dvo?ák to write his own B minor work. He was a fine cellist ...
-
ReviewShostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor op.40. Britten: Cello Sonata in C major op.65. Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C major op.119
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A classic repertoire selection let down by an unsympathetic recording balanceMusicians: Jamie Walton (cello) Daniel Grimwood (piano)Composer: Shostakovich, Britten, ProkofievThis grouping of sonatas bound together by the remarkable inspiration of Rostropovich is a well-worn combination on disc. Despite a slightly over-ambient recording, ...
-
ReviewShostakovich: String Quartets nos.1, 3 & 8
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Beguilingly lyrical accounts of three of Shostakovich’s more neo-Classical worksMusicians: Ludwig QuartetComposer: ShostakovichNow over a quarter of a century old with only two changes of personnel from the original 1985 line-up, the Ludwig Quartet is justly famous for its richly opulent sound ...
-
ReviewFrench Impressions. Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonata no.1 in D minor op.75. Franck: Violin Sonata in A major. Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Joshua Bell excels in repertoire that has always been close his heartMusicians: Joshua Bell (violin) Jeremy Denk (piano)Composer: Saint-Saëns, Franck, RavelJoshua Bell and Jeremy Denk have been regular duo partners for seven years now, but this is the first time they have ...
-
ReviewHayes: Violin Concerto*, Lucky’s Speech*, Lucky’s Dream*, Port Rhombus, Strides: Books 1 & 2† , Puppet Theatre† , Three Distressed Surfaces† , Slippage† , Lute Stop†
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Aerial acrobatics dominate a recent concerto for violinMusicians: Keisuke Okazaki* (violin) Jonathan Powell† (piano) Esbjerg Ensemble/Christopher AustinComposer: HayesYoung British composer Morgan Hayes has a distinctive voice that combines rhythmic complexity with harmonic approachability. It has to be said, though, that the ...
-
ReviewIves: Violin Sonatas nos.1–4
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome collection of Ives’s complete sonatas for violinMusicians: Hilary Hahn (violin) Valentina Lisitsa (piano)Composer: IvesThough Charles Ives’s violin sonatas are central to the composer’s chamber music, discs containing all four have been few. The booklet relates that in the past three ...
-
ReviewKennedy: The Four Elements
The Strad Issue: Feburary 2012Description: Nigel Kennedy’s venture into composition suggests he should stick to playingMusicians: Nigel Kennedy (violin etc) Members of the Orchestra of LifeComposer: KennedyYou can’t fault Kennedy for ambition. Writing almost an hour of new music as a ‘21st-century response to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons’ ...
-
Review
The Dam Levels
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An unusual jazz trio that has a cello instead of the usual double bassMusicians: Will Martinu (cello) Jason Lindner (piano) Richie Barshay (drums)Composer: Will Martinu et alWill Martinu’s group bears some of the hallmarks of recent notable jazz trios The Bad Plus and EST ...
-
ArticleFranck: Violin Sonata in A major (transc. Delsart). Debussy: Cello Sonata in D minor. Poulenc: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A welcome collection of three Gallic cello sonatasMusicians: Anne Gastinel (cello) Claire Désert (piano)Composer: Franck (transc. Delsart), Debussy, PoulencFrench cellist Anne Gastinel returns to her roots in this disc, celebrating 20 years since her first recording. Claire Désert creates a still, quiet ...
-
ReviewVaughan Williams: Suite, Flos campi. McEwen: Viola Concerto
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: The leading British violist explores more of the Tertis legacy to great effectMusicians: Lawrence Power (viola) BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales/Martyn BrabbinsComposer: Vaughan Williams, McEwenJohn Blackwood McEwen’s Viola Concerto was the first of many works commissioned by the great ...
-
ReviewViolin in Motion. Works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Liszt, Beethoven & Franck
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Modern advocacy for the art of the transcriber from a virtuoso duoMusicians: Lidia Baich (violin) Matthias Fletzberger (piano)Composer: Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Liszt, Beethoven & FranckThe age of violin and piano transcriptions of symphonic works had long passed when the music that ...
