All Reviews articles – Page 173
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ArticleBeethoven: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra: Violin Concertos in D major op.61 & C major WoO5 (fragment), Romances in G major op.40 & F major op.50
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Orchestre des Champs-Elysées/Philippe HerrewegheComposer: Beethoven Patricia Kopatchinskaja first caught my attention with a coruscating ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, in which she was partnered by Fazil Say. Her next Beethoven project could hardly be more different: using an instrument in ...
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ArticleMendelssohn: String Octet in E flat major op.20*. Enescu: Octet in C major op.7†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Christian Tetzlaff*† , Isabelle Faust*† , Lisa Batiashvili*† , Antje Weithaas*, Katherine Gowers† (violin), Rachel Roberts*† , Ori Kam*, Antoine Tamestit† (viola), Tanja Tetzlaff*, Quirine Viersen*† , Gustav Rivinius† (cello)Composer: Mendelssohn, Enescu The exultant, ...
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ArticleBach: Violin Sonatas and Partitas BWV1001–6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) The young Russian-born Alina Ibragimova has placed her approach to Bach’s mercilessly revealing Sonatas and Partitas between the warmth of Itzhak Perlman (EMI) and the clean and unadorned sound of Rachel Podger’s Baroque instrument (Channel Classics). Notable among ...
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ArticleSchubert: Complete Works for Violin and Piano vol.1: Violin Sonatas in D major D384, A minor D385 & G minor D408; Rondo brillant in B minor D895
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin) MartinuHelmchen (piano)Composer: Schubert We seem to have said goodbye for ever to the cuddly image of Schubert. And a good thing too, some may say. These splendid performances, perhaps the best of the current bunch, are definitely German rather ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.1 op.107. Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme op.33
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Kim Cook (cello) Volgograd Symphony Orchestra/Edward SerovComposer: Shostakovich, TchaikovskyThis CD of tried and tested repertoire offers precious few musical insights and at 50 minutes duration represents rather poor value. The Shostakovich is particularly disappointing, suffering from a lacklustre recording with a rather ...
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ArticleSinding: Music for Violin and Piano vol.1: Suite im alten Stil op.10, Waltzes op.59 (excerpts), Cantus doloris op.78, Romance in D major op.79 no.2, Four Pieces op.81 nos.1 & 2, Three Pieces op.89 nos
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Henning Kraggerud (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)Composer: SindingIn his Norwegian homeland, Christian Sinding (1856–1941) is a major figure whose latest symphonies, operas, concertos and chamber works were once awaited with eager anticipation. Yet for many years the only piece by which he ...
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ArticleStamitz: Cello Concertos no.1 in G major & no.2 in A major, Sinfonia concertante in D major for violin, viola and orchestra*
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ulrich Grehling (violin) Ulrich Koch (viola) Zoltan Ròcz (cello) Cappella Coloniensis/Günther Wich, Marcel Couraud*Composer: StamitzThe 18th-century Mannheim bigwig Carl Stamitz certainly produced well-crafted and pleasantly melodious music, but on the evidence of this disc offers very little that really sticks in the ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: String Quartets no.1 in D major op.11 & no. 2 in F major op.22
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Utrecht QuartetComposer: TchaikovskyThe soulful and perfectly shaded opening of the D major Quartet, followed by impetuosity in the big and thrusting central theme, are indicative of the wide ranging mood changes and intensity of the Utrecht Quartet’s performance as a whole.The unaffected ...
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ArticleHaydn: 6 Sonatas for Violin and Viola (Hob.VI:1–6)
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anton Steck (violin) Christian Goosses (viola) Composer: HaydnAnton Steck and Christian Goosses bring much vitality and refined musicianship to these performances, captured here in a clear and resonant recording. One’s pleasure remains undisturbed by the ‘balance of power’ in ...
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ArticleHolmboe: Violin Sonatas no.1, no.2 op.16 & no.3 op.89, Reminiscences, Violin Solo, Bagatelle no.1 ‘Arabesque’, Haiduc op.193
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Johannes Søe Hansen (violin) Christina Bjørkøe (piano)Composer: Holmboe This disc presents all of Danish composer Vagn Holmboe’s works for violin and piano. Imbued with a flavour of the folk music of his native land, as well of that ...
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ArticleMessiaen: Thème et variations (arr. Handy), Louange Á l'éternité de Jésus. Martinu: Cello Sonata no.1. Carter: Cello Sonata. Cutler: Music for Parakeets
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lionel Handy (cello) Nigel Clayton (piano) Composer: Messiaen, Martinu Carter, CutlerWith this, his first solo disc, British cellist Lionel Handy marks both last year’s Messiaen and Carter centenaries and his own miraculous return to playing after serious injury. Messiaen’s Theme and ...
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ArticleMilhaud: Quatre visages op.238, Viola Concerto no.1 op.108. Ysaÿe: Solo Cello Sonata op.28 (arr. viola). Hindemith: Solo Viola Sonata op.25 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Susanne van Els (viola) Gerard Bouwhuis (piano) Schönberg Ensemble/Reinbert de Leeuw Composer: Milhaud, Ysaÿe, HindemithThis imaginatively planned CD begins and ends with nicely lilting performances of two of Milhaud’s Quatre visages, its centrepiece being the composer’s First Viola Concerto. Both ...
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ArticlePaganini: Twenty-Four Caprices op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Thomas Zehetmair (violin)Composer: PaganiniApproximately 15 years on from his original Teldec recording of Paganini’s notorious caprices, Thomas Zehetmair’s second reading demonstrates greater technical assurance and musical maturity; even the most challenging passages are mastered with pleasing tone and intonation and with the ...
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ArticleBach: Viola da gamba Sonatas BWV1027–9, arrangements of arias from Cantatas nos.175 & 183
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Audrey Cienniwa (violoncello piccolo) Paul Cienniwa (harpsichord)Composer: BachAlthough there is no evidence that the violoncello piccolo ever substituted for the gamba in 18th-century performances of these sonatas, Audrey Cienniwa makes an excellent case for adopting this five-stringed instrument, which Bach himself readily ...
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ArticleSchubert: Quartettsatz in C minor D703. Mozart: String Quartet in C major K465 ‘Dissonance’. Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E minor op.44 no.2, Andante espressivo from String Quartet in D major op.44
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Elias QuartetComposer: Schubert, Mozart, MendelssohnHaving recently left the Sheffield-based Ensemble 360, the members of the Elias have given themselves the freedom to forge a career as one of the most compelling of the UK’s many young string quartets. Here, caught on the ...
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ArticleIn Memoriam Valentin Berlinsky. Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor op.115. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major K581
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Borodin Quartet, Julian Milkis (clarinet)Composer: Brahms, MozartRecorded in the Moscow Conservatoire’s Great Hall on 4 January 2000 (the audience is commendably quiet apart from a pair of sneezes just over three minutes into the slow movement of the Brahms), these glowing, well-balanced ...
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ArticleLees: String Quartets nos.1, 5 & 6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Cypress QuartetComposer: Lees These three works by the American composer Benjamin Lees (b.1924) span more than 50 years and reveal a clear development in his musical language. While the First Quartet (1952) sounds very much like a work of ...
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ArticleMendelssohn's String Quintets no.1 in A major op.18 & no.2 in B flat major op.87
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mannheim Quartet, Jone Kaliunaite (viola) Composer: MendelssohnNietzsche’s description of Mendelssohn as the ‘fine passing phenomenon of German music’ could be applied equally well to the composer’s two string quintets, as both have remained in the shadows despite their significance in the ...
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ArticleThe Voices that are Gone: The Music of Stephen Foster
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Matt Turner (cello) Peg Carrothers (voice) Bill Carrothers (piano) Composer: Stephen Foster Improvising cellist Matt Turner leads this poignant tribute to 19th-century songwriter Stephen Foster, the ‘father of American music’ and composer of tunes such as Camptown Races and My ...
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ArticleFantasie. Works by Sarasate, Vaughan Williams, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Ravel, Pärt, Rachmaninoff & Fauré
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nicola Benedetti (violin) Alexei Grynyuk (piano) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew LittonComposer: Sarasate, Vaughan Williams, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Ravel, Pärt, Rachmaninoff & FauréThis recital by the young Nicola Benedetti, stemming from several sessions with various accompanists, is notable for one ...
