All Reviews articles – Page 158
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ArticleSoli
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A treat for fans of Norwegian fiddle playingMusicians: Synnøve Bjørset, Šse Teigland, Anne Hytte (Hardanger fiddle)Composer: VariousA hardcore Hardanger album in the best sense, this disc will appeal both to devotees of the instrument and those new to the distinctive sound of ...
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ArticleFlight Mode
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Jazz violin playing that experiments with boundaries of the mediumMusicians: Chris Garrick (violin) ?David Gordon (keyboards) Ole Rasmussen (double bass) Tom Hooper (drums)Composer: VariousChris Garrick’s first release as a bandleader for five years finds the British jazz violinist on fine form. As ...
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ArticleThe Road to Damascus
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Folk fiddling explores music from both sides of the AtlanticMusicians: Notorious Composer: VariousThe Notorious central duo of fiddler–singer Eden MacAdam-Somer and guitarist–banjo-player Larry Unger are joined by mandolin, percussion and bass here in a collection of traditional and original American folk ...
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ArticleHonegger: Complete Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A unique collection of Honegger’s chamber music for violinMusicians: Laurence Kayaleh (violin) Paul Stewart (piano)Composer: HoneggerLaurence Kayaleh and Paul Stewart follow up their fine two-disc Medtner survey for Naxos with the only single disc of Honegger’s four violin sonatas currently available. It ...
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ArticleCorelli's Legacy. Sonatas by Corelli, Carbonelli, Mossi, Visconti, Castrucci, Locatelli & Montanari
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Mixed rewards in a collection exploring rarities of the Baroque sonata repertoireMusicians: Musica Antiqua RomaComposer: Corelli, Carbonelli, Mossi, Visconti, Castrucci, Locatelli & MontanariMusica Antiqua Roma showcases some of the legacy of Corelli’s Sonatas op.5, which served as models for numerous subsequent examples ...
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ArticleTim Key With a String Quartet. On a Boat.
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Absurdist comedy meets the string quartet on a disc of music and poetryMusicians: Tim Key, Tom Basden (voice) Vicky Sutherland, Amy May (violin) Nat Jones (viola) Katy Wright (cello)Composer: VariousAdmittedly, this is not primarily a musical disc. Tim Key is a British comedian ...
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ArticleBiber: Rosary Sonatas
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A worthy contender in a crowded market for Biber’s Biblical sonata cycleMusicians: Daniel Sepec (violin) Hille Perl (viola da gamba) Lee Santana (archlute/theorbo) Michael Behringer (harpsichord/organ)Composer: BiberDaniel Sepec uses three matching Stainer violins in original condition (but of contrasting vintage) to ...
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ArticleLekeu: Molto adagio, String Quartet, Méditation, Minuet
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The complete music for string quartet from a short-lived acolyte of FranckMusicians: Debussy Quartet Composer: LekeuBy the time of his death in 1894 at the early age of 24, Guillaume Lekeu had created sufficient to ...
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ArticleMozart: Divertimento in E flat major K563, Fugues with Slow Preludes after Bach no.4 in F major & no.5 in E flat major K404a
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Mozart’s arrangements of Bach make an apt frame for one of his divertimentosMusicians: Hermitage TrioComposer: MozartThe warmth and bloom on this recording by the Hermitage Trio is immediately inviting, and the players’ incisive, well-considered readings of Mozart trios are a treat, with arrangements of Bach ...
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ArticleSchubert: Violin Sonatina in D major D384 (arr. Coppey for cello), Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821, Piano Trio in B flat major D898
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A trio of Schubert recordings that fails to convinceMusicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin) Marc Coppey (cello) Peter Laul (piano)Composer: SchubertAlthough each has delightful moments, none of these well-recorded interpretations coalesces for me. The B flat major Piano Trio is presented as a sequence of ...
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ArticleSchoenberg: String Quartet no.3 op.30, Chamber Symphony op.9 (arr. Webern), Scherzo in F major, Presto in C major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Performances that make even twelve-note Schoenberg communicate freelyMusicians: Pražák Quartet, Jaromír Klepá? (piano)Composer: SchoenbergSchoenberg’s Third Quartet was among the first works he composed using exclusively dodecaphonic techniques. The shimmering cool and textural hypersensitivity of the LaSalle Quartet (originally Deutsche Grammophon, ...
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ArticleKarlowicz: Violin Concerto in A major op.8, Serenade op.2
Description: A budget recording of a neglected Polish concerto disappointsMusicians: Ilya Kaler (violin) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni WitComposer: Karlowicz Karlowicz’s ‘early’ Violin Concerto of 1902 (he was killed in an avalanche while skiing only seven years later aged 32) betrays the influence of Tchaikovsky and Bruch, ...
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ArticleProkofiev: Violin Concerto no.2 in G minor op.63. Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances op.45
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A promising performance of Prokofiev marred by poor recording balanceMusicians: Geneviève Laurenceau (violin) Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra/Tugan SokhievComposer: Prokofiev, RachmaninoffAs a curtain-raiser to their superb account of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev and his Toulouse orchestra give their leader Geneviève Laurenceau a ...
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ArticleBohemia. Janácek: Dumka, Violin Sonata. Maratka: Czardas III. Martinu: Violin Sonata no.3. Suk: Four Pieces op.17
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A generally successful recital of Czech violin repertoireMusicians: Marianne Piketty (violin) Dana Ciocarlie (piano) Composer: Janácek, Maratka, Martinu, SukFrench violinist Marianne Piketty and Romanian pianist Dana Ciocarlie interpret a carefully chosen Bohemian and Moravian programme impressively. My only query concerns ...
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ArticleEchoes of Paris. Poulenc: Violin Sonata op.119. Stravinsky: Suite after Themes, Fragments and Pieces by Pergolesi. Debussy: Violin Sonata. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.2 in D major op.94b
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A celebration of Franco–Russian music with Parisian connectionsMusicians: Augustin Hadelich (violin) Robert Kulek (piano)Composer: Poulenc, Stravinsky, Debussy, ProkofievDespite the rather cheesy title, this is a disc that can’t fail to please lovers of the early 20th-century French and Russian greats. Augustin Hadelich ...
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ArticleBach: The Art of Fugue BWV1080, Chorale ‘Aus tiefer Not’
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Bach’s monument to counterpoint receives a textural makeoverMusicians: Akademie für Alte Musik BerlinComposer: BachMore than with any other composer, the music of Bach seems to withstand everything that ?is inflicted upon it, and ?here his great testament ?The Art of Fugue is offered ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Variations on Mozart’s ‘Bei Männern’ WoO46, Violin Sonata in A major op.47 ‘Kreutzer’ (arr. Czerny), Cello Sonata in D major op.102 no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: A convincing cello account of Beethoven’s greatest violin sonataMusicians: Ivan Monighetti (cello) Pavel Gililov (piano)Composer: BeethovenPressure to expand the repertoire on CD inevitably leads to the path of arrangements. So despite having five sonatas and Beethoven’s fine transcription of the Horn Sonata, cellists’ eyes ...
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ArticleSchulhoff: Violin Sonatas nos.1 & 2, Suite, Sonata for solo violin
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: An invigorating tour of the early 20th century from a single composerMusicians: Tanja Becker-Bender (violin) Markus Becker (piano) Composer: SchulhoffErwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) was one of the 20th century’s chameleons: late Romantic, Impressionist, Expressionist, Dadaist, Jazzist, neo-Classicist are all labels that apply to his music ...
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ArticleDittersdorf Violone Concerto no.1 in E flat major. Hoffmeister, Violone Concerto no.1 in E flat major. Vanhal: Double Bass Concerto in E flat major
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2011Description: The Berlin Philharmonic’s whizzkid bassist plays a trio of rare concertosMusicians: Edicson Ruiz (double bass) Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Christian VásquezComposer: Dittersdorf, Hoffmeister, VanhalOne of the ‘bright young things’ featured in January’s Strad, Edicson Ruiz here makes good his intention of ...
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ArticleEchoes of Time. Shostakovich: Violin Concerto no.1 in A minor op.77, Lyrical Waltz (arr. T. Batiashvili). Kancheli: V & V. Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel*. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise*
The Strad Issue: January 2011Description: Shostakovich’s harrowing First Violin Concerto is at the heart of a nuanced discMusicians: Lisa Batiashvili (violin) Hélène Grimaud (piano)* Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Esa-Pekka SalonenComposer: Shostakovich, Kancheli, Pärt, Rachmaninoff It should come as no surprise that the ‘filler’ tracks on this enthralling disc ...
