All Reviews articles – Page 155
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ArticleGarcía-Fons: Méditerranées
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A lengthy tour of the Mediterranean would have benefited from being more selectiveMusicians: Renaud García-Fons (double bass/tanbur/udu/bendir/cajon/daf/palmas) et alComposer: García-FonsThis clockwise journey around the Mediterranean rim is not, Renaud García-Fons emphasises, mere musical tourism, but a meaningful journey that places melody at its heart. ...
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ArticleLe Grazie del Violino nel Seicento Italiano. Works by Marini, Selma y Salaverde, Merula, Pandolfi-Mealli, Fontana, Frescobaldi & Uccellini
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An effective collection of 17th-century Italian music for violin and harpMusicians: Arparla: Davide Monti (violin) Maria Christina Cleary (harp)Composer: Marini, Selma y Salaverde, Merula, Pandolfi-Mealli, Fontana, Frescobaldi & UccelliniDavide Monti is fleet of left and right hands in this attractive anthology of ...
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ArticleItaly versus France. Works by Lully, Corelli, d’Anglebert, Rebel, Muffat, Couperin, Visée & Pasquini
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The listener is the winner in this battle of musical stylesMusicians: The Bach PlayersComposer: Lully, Corelli, d’Anglebert, Rebel, Muffat, Couperin, Visée & Pasquini Debate over the relative merits of Italian and French musical styles ran through the 17th century. As Hugh Wood ...
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ArticleBritten: Cello Symphony, Symphonic Suite from Gloriana, Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A deeply felt account of Britten’s symphony for cello and orchestraMusicians: Paul Watkins (cello) BBC Philharmonic/Edward GardnerComposer: BrittenIn using the term ‘symphony’ for the concerto he wrote for Rostropovich in 1962–3, Britten was partly trying to get away from the idea of the concertante ...
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ArticleManto and Madrigals. Duos for violin and viola by Killius, Scelsi, Holliger, Bartók, Skalkottas, Maxwell Davies, Martinu & Nied
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A riveting collection of recent and established works for violin and violaMusicians: Thomas Zehetmair (violin) Ruth Killius (viola)Composer: Killius, Scelsi, Holliger, Bartók, Skalkottas, Maxwell Davies, Martinu & NiedThis adventurous selection of music for violin and viola begins where others end, the one ...
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ArticleLe Violoncelle Parle. Britten: Suite for solo cello no.3 op.87. Cassadó: Suite for solo cello. Amoyel: Itinérance. Kodály: Sonata for solo cello op.8
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Four highly varied solo cello works are given memorable performancesMusicians: Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello)Composer: Britten, Cassadó, Amoyel, KodályMuch-recorded French cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand brings her own blend of flair, elegance and impressive technique to these solo cello staples, resulting in stylish and characterful intepretations.Cassadó’s Suite, ...
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ArticleTaneyev: String Quartets nos.2 & 4
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Sympathetic accounts of string quartets by an important but neglected Russian composerMusicians: Carpe Diem QuartetComposer: TaneyevSergei Taneyev was a musical phenomenon. By the age of ten he was studying piano at the Moscow Conservatoire and just three years later became Tchaikovsky’s composition pupil. He was only ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Concerto in D major op.77. Schumann: Symphony no.4 in D minor op.120
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A promising account of the Brahms Concerto marred by a lugubrious startMusicians: Arabella Steinbacher (violin) Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Fabio LuisiComposer: Brahms, SchumannHere is yet another Brahms Concerto adhering to a totally spurious, inauthentic tradition of dragging out the opening movement ad nauseam. By the ...
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ArticleSchumann: Piano Trios in D minor op.63, in F major op.80 & in G minor op.110, Six Pieces in Canonic Form op.56 (arr. Kirchner), Fantasiestücke op.88
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Mixed results in Schumann’s works for piano trio Musicians: Christian Tetzlaff (violin) Tanja Tetzlaff (cello) Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)Composer: SchumannThe only Schumann piano trio to have given posterity pause for thought is the D minor, so it bodes ill that this star ensemble is ...
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ArticleDragonetti: String Quintets no.11 in A minor & no.26 in B flat major, String Quartet no.2 in C major. Haydn: Divertimento in C major Hob.II:C5
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The double bass is given a starring role in chamber music by one of the instrument’s greatest exponentsMusicians: DNA Quintet: Loma Mar Quartet, John Feeney (double bass)Composer: Dragonetti, Haydn The DNA Quintet’s recording project embraces not only Dragonetti’s 31 string quintets and ...
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ArticleBrahms: Cello Sonatas no.1 in E minor op.38 & no.2 in F major op.99, ‘F-A-E’ Scherzo (arr. Bailey), Lieder arrangements
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Brahms’s two cello sonatas are accompanied by a welcome selection of transcriptionsMusicians: Zuill Bailey (cello) Awadagin Pratt (piano)Composer: BrahmsZuill Bailey’s transcription of the scherzo from the ‘F-A-E’ Sonata, with its original melodic line presented an octave lower, is an excellent addition to the cello ...
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ArticleRolla: Viola Sonatas in E flat major op.3 no.1, in D minor op.3 no.2 & in C major, Duetto in A major for violin and viola op.18 no.1, Esercizi
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Advocacy for a little-known composer needs more of a sense of his periodMusicians: Jennifer Stumm (viola) Liza Ferschtman (violin) Connie Shih (piano)Composer: RollaAlessandro Rolla (1757–1841), who appears to have given Paganini lessons in 1795, is now relatively unknown but was clearly a ...
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ArticleRoslavets: Cello Sonatas nos.1 & 2, Meditation, Dances of the White Maidens, Viola Sonata (transcr. cello)
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Impressive playing that manages to surmount a heavy-going musical voiceMusicians: Lachezar Kostov (cello) Viktor Valkov (piano)Composer: RoslavetsIn his heyday in the 1920s, Nikolai Roslavets (1880–1944) was viewed as a progressive, boundary-pushing composer. Yet by the end of the decade, his post-Scriabinesque chromaticism fell ...
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ArticleVivaldi: La stravaganza op.4 nos.1—6
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Reassuringly sane and richly enjoyable Vivaldi that is surprisingly restrainedMusicians: Fabio Biondi (violin/director) Europa GalanteComposer: Vivaldi Vivaldi came of age with his set of 12 concertos op.4, whose title refers to the music’s tantalising fantasy of invention achieved within strict musical parameters. ...
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ArticleWeinberg: Piano Trio op.24. Shostakovich: Piano Trios nos.1 & 2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Trios by Shostakovich and his pupil Weinberg come across forcefully Musicians: Trio VoceComposer: Weinberg, ShostakovichIf the name of the recently formed Trio Voce seems unfamiliar, its members are of immaculate pedigree. Violinist Jasmine Lin is a founder ...
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ArticleVilla-Lobos: Piano Trios nos.1–3. Fernández: Trio brasileiro
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Persuasive performances of early 20th-century music from BrazilMusicians: Damocles TrioComposer: Villa-Lobos, FernándezPosterity may well value Villa-Lobos’s instrumental and chamber music as his most important contribution to the 20th- century repertoire. Though he was to build a reputation as a distinctly South American orchestral ...
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ArticleBach: Sonata no.1 in G minor BWV1001, Partitas no.1 in B minor BWV1002 & no.2 in D minor BWV1004. Reger: Preludes and Fugues in B minor op.117 no.1 & in G minor op.117 no.2, Chaconne in G minor op.117
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A convincing coupling of Bach with a later composer writing under his spellMusicians: Sayaka Shoji (violin)Composer: Bach, RegerThe booklet for this CD does not inspire confidence, transposing Bach’s First Partita into G minor and stating that his whole cycle culminates in the ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Piano Trios in D major op.70 no.1 ‘Ghost’, in E flat major op.70 no.2 & in B flat major op.11
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Well-judged performances of three of Beethoven’s piano triosMusicians: Gryphon TrioComposer: BeethovenAchieving the spectral effects in the second movement of Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ Trio calls for great care in balancing instruments. The members of the Gryphon Trio judge it to perfection, and this is just ...
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ArticlePohjonen/Kosminen: Uniko
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An unusual combination of string quartet and accordion makes too little of the possibilities offeredMusicians: Kronos Quartet, Kimmo Pohjonen (accordion/voice) Samuli Kosminen (string & accordion samples/programming)Composer: Pohjonen/KosminenKronos commissioned Uniko from this Finnish duo back in 2004, with the recording laid down in ...
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ArticleWritten in Sand. Ruders: Variations. Salonen: Lachen verlernt. Hallgrímsson: Offerto, Poemi*
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Violin music by three contemporary Nordic composers is vividly brought to lifeMusicians: Sølve Sigerland (violin) Risør Festival Strings/Per Kristian Skalstad*Composer: Ruders, Salonen, HallgrímssonNorwegian violinist Sølve Sigerland makes a strong case for these demanding works by three contemporary Nordic composers, combining ...
