All Reviews articles – Page 148
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A remarkable testament to a great violinist that transcends its sonic inadequaciesMusicians: Henri Temianka (violin) Leonard Shure (piano)Composer: BeethovenAlthough technically Scottish, Henri Temianka had a continental European background and musical education, with Polish–Jewish parents and time spent studying in Rotterdam, ...
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ArticleEvening Songs. Delius/Ireland: Songs arr. cello & piano
The Strad Issue: Feburary 2012Description: Two notable anniversaries celebrated in a delectable collection of song arrangementsMusicians: Julian Lloyd Webber, Jiaxin Cheng (cello) John Lenehan (piano)Composer: Delius/IrelandTo coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Delius and the 50th of the death of John Ireland, Julian ...
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ReviewLa Belle Danse: Ballets Anciens & Modernes. Music by Lully, Marais, Muffat, Brade, Praetorius & Rossi
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A new recreation of a renowned Baroque French string ensembleMusicians: Capriccio Stravagante Les 24 Violons/Skip Sempé (director)Composer: Lully, Marais, Muffat, Brade, Praetorius & Rossi This live recording from the 2010 Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht has impressive clarity and presence. It marks this ...
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ArticleAmerican Music. Reich: Different Trains. Barber: String Quartet. Crumb: Black Angels
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Commanding performances of American quartets from different traditionsMusicians: Diotima QuartetComposer: Reich, Barber, CrumbThe French-based Diotima Quartet is renowned for its interpretations of hardcore contemporary music – think Ferneyhough, Boulez, Lachenmann. So the three very different American works on this disc – one ...
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ReviewSchubert: Piano Trio in E flat major D929, Notturno in E flat major D897
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A high level of playing from an international trioMusicians: Trio Latitude 41: Livia Sohn (violin) Luigi Piovano (cello) Bernadene Blaha (piano)Composer: SchubertFormed in 2009, Trio Latitude 41 was so named because of the common latitude of the cellist’s base in Rome and ...
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ReviewGrieg: Violin Sonata in F major op.8. Olsen: Six Old Village Songs from Lom Thoresen Yr op.23. Trad.: Hardanger fiddle tunes
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Norwegian music for violin and Hardanger fiddle from a skilled young playerMusicians: Ragnhild Hemsing (violin/Hardanger fiddle) Tor Espen Aspaas (piano)Composer: Grieg, Olsen, Trad.On the evidence of this recording, 23-year-old Ragnhild Hemsing is destined for great things. Already a leading performer in her ...
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ReviewUstvolskaya: Composition no.2 ‘Dies irae’*, Grand Duet† , Piano Sonata no.6‡
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Compelling music by a contemporary Russian who pulls no punchesMusicians: Ludus Gravis/Stefano Scodanibbio*, Rohan de Saram† (cello) Fabrizio Ottaviucci*, Marino Formenti† ‡ (piano) Laura Mancini* (wooden cube)Composer: UstvolskayaMake no mistake: this isn’t an easy disc to listen to. The reclusive Russian ...
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ArticleC.P.E. Bach: Viola da gamba Sonatas in G minor Wq88, C major Wq136 & D major Wq137 ABEL Solo Pieces in D major WK186, WK187 & WK190, Viola da gamba Sonata in E minor WK150
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An attractive disc of 18th-century gamba sonatasMusicians: Rebeka Rusó (viola da gamba) Sebastian Wienand (fortepiano)Composer: C.P.E. BachPerfectly matched in their instinctive musicianship and stylistic sensibility, Rebeka Rusó and Sebastian Wienand can hardly be faulted in these performances, full of remarkable vision and ...
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ArticleBach: Cello Suites no.2 in D minor BWV1008, no.4 in E flat major BWV1010 & no.6 in D major BWV1012
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A disappointingly recorded survey of the even-numbered Bach Cello SuitesMusicians: Sara Sant’Ambrogio (cello)Composer: BachBach’s Cello Suites attract cellists to the recording studio like bees to a honey pot, with the result that virtually every player seems to see it as their right ...
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ArticleHill: String Quartets nos.10 & 11, ‘Life’ Quintet*
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Antipodean chamber music that needs more stimulating advocates than hereMusicians: Dominion Quartet, Richard Mapp* (piano) singers/Mark Dorrell* (conductor)Composer: HillThis is the fourth instalment in Naxos’s survey of the 17 string quartets by Australian composer Alfred Hill (1869–1960). They’re an odd bunch. The ...
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ArticleBowen: Viola Sonatas no.1 in C minor op.18 & no.2 in F major op.22, Phantasy op.54
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Discerning accounts of viola sonatas that can be overdoneMusicians: Bridge Duo: Matthew Jones (viola) Michael Hampton (piano)Composer: BowenThese are heady days for York Bowen’s music, which is being championed by a growing number of musicians on several different labels. As far as ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Trio no.1 in B major op.8. Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor op.15
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A largely successful coupling of two great Romantic piano triosMusicians: Weiss–Kaplan–Newman TrioComposer: Brahms & SmetanaThe Weiss–Kaplan–Newman Trio presents a powerful account of Brahms’s First Piano Trio, one where the choice of tempos in the outer movements gives an ideal sense of creative ...
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ArticleErnst: Complete Music for Violin and piano vol.2: Fantaisie brillante sur la Marche et la Romance d’Otello de Rossini, Boléro, Deux romances, Souvenir du Pré aux Clercs, Pensées fugitives pt 1, Variat
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A dazzling tribute to one of the 19th century’s real virtuoso fiddlersMusicians: Sherban Lupu (violin) Ian Hobson (piano)Composer: ErnstEven in an age noted for its dazzling pyrotechnicians, Heinrich Ernst (1812–65) was virtually in a class of his own, as anyone who has ...
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ArticleFauré: Cello Sonatas no.1 in D minor op.109 & no.2 in G minor op.117, Élégie op.24, Romance op.69, Papillon op.77, Sérénade op.98, Sicilienne op.78, Allegro commodo from Sonata no.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: An ideal survey of Fauré’s music for cello and pianoMusicians: Alban Gerhardt (cello) Cecile Licad (piano)Composer: FauréBar a few frequently performed masterpieces such as the Requiem, Fauré’s larger-scale works, not least the cello sonatas, seem to elude concert planners. The ...
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ReviewMendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64. Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor WoO1, Fantasy op.131
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A brave coupling of two 19th-century violin concertosMusicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Paavo JärviComposer: Mendelssohn & SchumannThe first fruit of Christian Tetzlaff’s partnership with Ondine, this disc could prove a real test of his popularity in the marketplace. Schumann’s Violin ...
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ReviewThe Soviet Experience Vol.1. Shostakovich: String Quartets nos.5–8. Miaskovsky: String Quartet no.13 in A minor op.86
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Performances of Shostakovich refreshingly free of political subtextsMusicians: Pacifica QuartetComposer: Shostakovich & MiaskovskyOver the years performances of Shostakovich’s music have become increasingly laden with political subtexts. Even the most innocent of gestures and elegant of structures are almost invariably forced ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Cello Sonata no.1 in F major op.5 no.1. Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata no.2 in D major op.58. Webern: Cello Sonata, Langsam from Zwei kleine Stücke. Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor op.19.
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: A promising debut from a young Swiss cellistMusicians: Lionel Cottet (cello) Louis Schwizgebel-Wang (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Webern, Rachmaninoff, ShostakovichHere, two 21-year-old Swiss musicians present a wide-ranging programme at a concert recorded last December in the Great Hall of the Geneva Conservatoire. As ...
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ArticleYoffe: Song of Songs
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Exquisite performances of a sequence of miniatures that unfortunately quickly pallsMusicians: Rosamunde Quartet, Hilliard EnsembleComposer: YoffeRussian-born composer Boris Yoffe’s Book of Quartets is a remarkable project – an ongoing series of short, often single-page pieces for string quartet that he reputedly composes ...
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ArticleSainte-Colombe: Concerts Á deux violes esgales
The Strad Issue: January 2012Description: Two masters of the viol in music from the French BaroqueMusicians: Wieland Kuijken, Jordi Savall (bass viol)Composer: Sainte-ColombeThe recordings for this two-disc set were originally made in 1976 and 1992. They embrace ten of Sainte-Colombe’s 67 Concerts, which comprise not only popular ...
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ArticleHandel: Complete Violin Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2013Description: Stylish accounts of Handel from a German-based ensembleMusicians: Ensemble Vintage Köln: Ariadne Daskalakis (violin) Rainer Zipperling (viola da gamba/cello) Gerald Hambitzer (harpsichord)Composer: HandelThese performers give pride of place to the five echt violin sonatas, but acknowledge the merits of the ...
