All Reviews articles – Page 151
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ArticleBach to Tango. Works by Bach, Piazzolla, Dvorák, Rodygin, Brahms, Elgar, Kreisler, Bernstein, Gardner, Gershwin, Dyens & J. Gade
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An uneven programme does little to hide the obvious skills of a young fiddlerMusicians: Caroline Adomeit (violin) Rochus Holewik (piano)Composer: Bach, Piazzolla, Dvorák, Rodygin, Brahms, Elgar, Kreisler, Bernstein, Gardner, Gershwin, Dyens & J. Gade The young German violinist Caroline Adomeit ...
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ArticleCroft: Violin Sonatas in A major, G minor & B minor, Harpsichord Suites in D minor, F major & G major Anonymous Violin Sonata in D minor
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Over-cautious accounts of English Baroque sonatasMusicians: Duo Dorado: Hazel Brooks (violin) David Pollock (harpsichord)Composer: CroftWilliam Croft’s three violin sonatas combine Italian and English idioms from the late 17th-century and are among the first sonatas for a single instrument and continuo to be ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Trio, String Quartet, Piano Quartets, Piano Quintets, Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas, Romances, Berceuse, Andante, Élégie, Papillon, Sérénade, Sicilienne, Morceau de lecture, Morceau de le
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Fauré’s complete string chamber music in benchmark performancesMusicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Gérard Caussé (viola) Gautier Capuçon, Raphaël Merlin (cello) Michel Dalberto, Nicholas Angelich (piano) Ébène QuartetComposer: FauréThe Capuçon brothers, separately and together, have the lion’s share of this survey of Fauré’s chamber ...
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ArticleAlfano: Violin Sonata in D major, Piano Quintet in A flat major, Nenia, Scherzino
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Chamber works from an Italian operatic composerMusicians: Elmira Darvarova, Mary Ann Mumm (violin) Craig Mumm (viola) Samuel Magill (cello) Scott Dunn (piano)Composer: AlfanoAlthough his name is remembered today almost exclusively for completing Puccini’s last great opera Turandot, Franco Alfano (1875–1954) was a ...
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ArticleKurtág: Complete works for string quartet: Arioso – Hommage Á Walter Levin 85, 6 Moments musicaux, Hommage Á Jacob Obrecht, Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky, Aus der Ferne III & V, Hom
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A winning exploration of the work of a master miniaturistMusicians: Athena QuartetComposer: KurtágGyörgy Kurtág’s intricately crafted and condensed works for string quartet reflect his debt to Webern: each small gesture is heavy with intent. The works span from his First Quartet, written ...
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ArticleSchubert: Piano Quintet in A major D667 ‘Trout’, Die Forelle D550. Tomter/Sollid: Fjellørreten. Whittall: Hors d’oeuvre. Schmid/Carstensen: Forelle Blue
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A festive performance of Schubert’s sociable masterpieceMusicians: Benjamin Schmid (violin) Lars Anders Tomter (viola) Jan Vogler (cello) Janne Saksala (double bass) Antti Siirala (piano) Erik Sollid (Hardanger fiddle) Stian Carstensen (accordion)Composer: Schubert, Tomter/Sollid, Whittall, Schmid/Carstensen With its unorthodox scoring, Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet ...
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ArticlePenderecki: Viola Concerto, Cello Concerto no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Two striking concertos characteristic of Penderecki’s later, post-modernist styleMusicians: Grigori Zhislin (viola) Tatiana Vasilieva (cello) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni WitComposer: PendereckiPenderecki opens his 1983 Viola Concerto in a strikingly intense manner, with the orchestra answered by the solo viola using an emotionally turbulent ...
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ArticleBeethoven by Arrangement. Beethoven: Viola Sonata fragment in A major, Horn Sonata op.17 (arr. Silverthorne), Notturno op.42 (arr. Kleinheinz), Grand Duo in E flat major op.20 (arr. Hermann/Silverthor
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An enjoyable collection that reminds us that Beethoven played the viola in his youthMusicians: Paul Silverthorne (viola) David Owen Norris (piano)Composer: BeethovenAlthough Beethoven, in his youth a violist in the Bonn orchestra, did begin to write a viola sonata, he unfortunately only ...
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ArticleStanford: Cello Concerto in D minor, Rondo in F major, Ballata and Ballabile op.160, Irish Rhapsody no.3 op.137
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Warm-hearted Stanford from a rising star of the celloMusicians: Gemma Rosefield (cello) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew ManzeComposer: Stanford Marking British cellist Gemma Rosefield’s Hyperion debut, this is a significant disc for her and she does not disappoint. Winner of the ...
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ArticleArnold: Cello Concerto op.136*, Symphony for Strings op.13† , Concertino for flute and strings op.19a (orch. Ellis)† , Fantasy for recorder and string quartet op.140† , Saxophone Concerto (arr. Ellis)
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The concerto soloist does his best in the face of weak musical materialMusicians: Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Esther Ingram (flute) John Turner (recorder) Carl Raven (alto saxophone) Northern Chamber Orchestra/Nicholas Ward*, Manchester Sinfonia/Richard Howarth† Composer: ArnoldMalcolm Arnold has garnered many plaudits for his ...
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ArticleBrahms: Viola Sonatas op.120. Schumann: Märchenbilder op.113
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Welcome new versions of much-recorded repertoireMusicians: Rachel Roberts (viola) Lars Vogt (piano)Composer: Brahms, SchumannIt takes some courage to add yet another version of this over-recorded coupling to the lists, but from the first bars of the piano introduction, this recording commands attention: ...
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ArticleHuber: Violin Sonatas no.5 in E major op.112 & no.6 in D minor op.116 ‘Appassionata’, Phantasie in G minor op.17
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Swiss performers revel in the high Romanticism of a follower of Brahms and StraussMusicians: Gilles Colliard (violin) Timon Altwegg (piano)Composer: HuberGilles Colliard and Timon Altwegg’s performances radiate real empathy with the vintage Romantic idiom of these works by their compatriot, Swiss composer ...
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ArticleReich: WTC 9/11, Mallet Quartet, Dance Patterns
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Reich’s 9/11 commemoration seems less than the sum of its partsMusicians: Kronos Quartet, S? Percussion, James Preiss, Thad Wheeler (vibraphone) Frank Cassara, Garry Kvistad (xylophone) Edmund Niemann, Nurit Tilles (piano)Composer: ReichThis disc includes two of Reich’s percussion pieces, but it is dominated ...
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ArticleBach: Violin Sonatas in E major BWV1016 & G major BWV1021, Partita no.3 in E major BWV1006. Biber: Violin Sonatas no.4 in D major & no.8 in A major
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Invigorating performances of Baroque classicsMusicians: Evgeny Sviridov (violin) Zita Mikijanska (harpsichord)Composer: Bach, BiberThis debut recording from 2010 Leipzig Bach Competition winner Evgeny Sviridov admirably showcases his enviable technique, minute attention to detail, rhythmic vitality and subtle tonal colourings. He makes light of ...
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ArticleHolbrooke: Violin Sonata no.1 op.6a, Violin Concerto op.59 ‘Grasshopper’, Horn Trio in D major op.28, L’extase from Mezzo-Tints op.55
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: First-rate performances do little to pin down a little-known composer’s styleMusicians: Kerenza Peacock (violin) Mark Smith (horn) Robert Stevenson (piano)Composer: HolbrookeJoseph Holbrooke (1878–1958) is best remembered, if at all, for his Wagner-aping cycle of Celtic music dramas, but he was prolific in ...
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ArticlePizzetti: String Quartets nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A generally enjoyable introduction to the music of a neglected Italian composerMusicians: Lajtha QuartetComposer: PizzettiOn this showing, the Respighi contemporary Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880–1968) has been unjustly ignored. The sunny String Quartet no.1 was written in 1906, when Pizzetti was in his mid-20s, ...
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ArticleBartók: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2, Viola Concerto
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A rare collection of all three Bartók string concertos from a single soloistMusicians: James Ehnes (violin/viola) BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea NosedaComposer: BartókJames Ehnes takes a Romantic view of Bartók’s First Violin Concerto, with sensual phrasing and a rich, glowing tone. The first ...
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ArticleOne More Day
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Short but sweet: a meeting of different popular styles Musicians: Kono Michi: Michi Wiancko (violin/vocals) Mike Sorensen Small (guitars/bass) Grant Pringle (drums/percussion)Composer: VariousThis EP of just four songs offers a nicely sized taste of Kono Michi’s rather original musical world, in which ...
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ArticleItalia. Vivaldi: Violin Concerto ‘Grosso Mogul’, Violin Concerto in A minor, Summer from The Four Seasons, Vedro con mio diletto, Nulla in mundo pax sincera. Tartini: ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata, Violin Co
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An enjoyable collection of Baroque repertoire from a young virtuosoMusicians: Nicola Benedetti (violin) Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Christian CurnynComposer: Vivaldi, Tartini, VeraciniNicola Benedetti, a Scot of Italian parentage, is quite at home in this collection of Italian Baroque music in the company of the ...
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ArticleMiniatures Catalanes. Music by ToldrÁ , MossiÁ , Mompou, Gray, Blancafort, Cassadó, Granados, etc
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A rewarding trip to the Catalan salonMusicians: Kalina Macuta (violin) Daniel Blanch (piano)Composer: ToldrÁ , MossiÁ , Mompou, Gray, Blancafort, Cassadó, Granados, etcThese two discs, together with their excellent accompanying booklet, provide a short résumé of the wealth of music for violin ...
