All Reviews articles – Page 175
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ArticleRussian Violin Sonatas. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.1 in F minor op.80. Shostakovich: Violin Sonata in G major op.134
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Michael Dinnebier (violin) Angela-Charlott Bieber (piano)Composer: Prokofiev, ShostakovichA product of the War years when Stalin’s henchmen were generally more tolerant of less than optimistic musical statements, Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata just got under the wire before the post-war crackdown. Both Isaac Stern ...
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ArticleSchumann: Violin Sonatas no.1 in A minor op.105 & no.2 in D minor op.121, Four song transcriptions
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Linus Roth (violin) José Gallardo (piano) Composer: SchumannGerman violinist and Argentine pianist are an established duo and their rapport is evident in the dramatic D minor Sonata, which starts their programme. The opening chords are almost too abrupt, but Linus Roth ...
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ArticleScotland’s Fiddle Piobaireachd vol.1
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Bonnie Rideout (fiddle/viola) Allan MacDonald (Highland bagpipes/voice) Simon O’Dwyer (Bronze Age horns) William Jackson (clarsach) Chris Norman (flute)Composer: TradThis challenging, fascinating disc takes the listener deep into the world of the piobaireachd, the classical music of the Scottish Highlands. Bonnie ...
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ArticleSzymanowski: Violin Concertos no.1 op.35 & no.2 op.61*. Britten: Violin Concerto op.15†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit*, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck† Composer: Szymanowski, BrittenAn unusual coupling of composers, but who cares when between them they produced three of the most seductive violin concertos of the 20th century? Frank Peter Zimmermann ...
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ArticleFauré: Piano Quintets no.1 in D minor op.89 & no.2 in C minor
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Fine Arts Quartet, Cristina Ortiz (piano) Composer: FauréIn Fauré there is no substitute for experience and these five veterans show all their modern rivals the way home. Throughout these difficult but rewarding works from the composer’s late period, the playing has the ...
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ArticleGould: String Quartet op.1. E. MacMillan: String Quartet in C minor, Two Sketches Based on French Canadian Airs
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Alcan QuartetComposer: Gould, E. MacMillanBoth composers here are better remembered as Canadian performers of the front rank: the Scottish-born Ernest MacMillan (1893–1973) conducted at Glenn Gould’s first major outings on the concert platform. The two quartets on this disc marry up admirably, ...
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ArticleL. Weiner: Violin Sonatas no.1 in D major op.9 & no.2 in F sharp minor op.11, Pereg Recruiting Dance, Wedding Dance, Three Hungarian Folk Dances, Twenty Easy Little Pieces
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Hagai Shaham (violin) Arnon Erez (piano) Composer: L. WeinerCompared to the other great composers – Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi – who taught at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, early in the last century, Leó Weiner (1885–1960) is largely neglected. His violin sonatas, from ...
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ArticleQuartetto con Forza. Gothe: String Quartet ‘Visioni ed estasi’. Hillborg: Kongsgaard Variations. Mårtensson: String Quartet no.1 ‘Sediments of Discourse’. Pelo: Up, Down Charm, Strange
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Stenhammar QuartetComposer: Gothe, Hillborg, Mårtensson, Pelo This disc brings together string quartets composed within the last five years by four leading Swedish composers, three of whom use the medium to produce sounds rather than conventional thematic material. The exception comes in Anders ...
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ArticleBacewicz: Violin Concertos nos.1, 3 & 7, Overture
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Joanna Kurkowicz (violin) Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Lukasz Borowicz Composer: BacewiczGraz?yna Bacewicz’s centenary this year has remained largely ignored outside Poland, a state of affairs that Joanna Kurkowicz has been determined to rectify by bringing her dedicated and persuasive championing of these concertos ...
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ArticleXenakis: Complete string quartets: Tetras, Tetora, ST-4, Ergma
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jack Quartet Composer: Xenakis The prospect of hearing Xenakis’s complete string quartets in one sitting might sound somewhat indigestible. But this is music of strange and passionate pleasure, and each work is compellingly, sense-assailingly different. The composer’s genius as an ...
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Articlel’improviste
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre (double bass)Composer: VariousAn album of free improv double bass duets is never going to be for the faint-hearted. Tuneful this ain’t (well, for the most part), but Barre Phillips and Joëlle Léandre are past masters in this genre ...
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ArticleC. Schumann: Romanzen. Holliger: Romancendres, Gesänge der Frühe
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Christoph Richter (cello) Dénes Várjon (piano) SWR Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra/Heinz Holliger Composer: C. Schumann, HolligerThis ambitious disc pairs Clara Schumann’s Romances, originally for violin and piano, with Heinz Holliger’s Romancendres, reflections on Robert ...
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ArticleBridge: Piano Quintet, Noveletten, Rhapsody Trio, Lament for two violas, Cherry Ripe, Sir Roger de Coverley
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Bridge Quartet, Michael Dussek (piano)Composer: Bridge An outstanding recital of Bridge chamber works, ranging from those twin miniature ditties Cherry Ripe and Sir Roger de Coverley, to the glorious 1904 D minor Piano Quintet, originally in four movements but reduced ...
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ArticleNess: Mad Cap Tootling, Wet Blubber Soup, Gust, Low Jive
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Peter Herrestal (violin) Catherine Bullock (viola) Øystein Birkeland (cello) Dan Styffe (double bass) Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Rolf Gupta, Peter Szilvay Composer: NessThe music of the contemporary Norwegian composer Jon Øivind Ness is marked by a strong engagement with pop and rock techniques ...
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ArticleTreble & Bass. Kleiberg: Violin Concerto, Double Bass Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Marianne Thorsen (violin) Göran Sjölin (double bass) Trondheim Symphony Orchestra/Daniel ReussComposer: Kleiberg If all contemporary violin concertos were as accessible as this, concert promoters would have an easier time of it. Norwegian composer Ståle Kleiberg doesn’t necessarily push any boundaries, ...
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ArticleCeltic Twilight. Ball: Violin Concerto, Five Bagatelles for wind trio, From the Hebrides, Celtic Twilight
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Thomas Gould (violin) Paul Arden-Taylor (oboe/cor anglais/recorder) Leslie Craven (clarinet) Celia Birkinshaw (bassoon) Emerald Concert Orchestra/Christopher Ball Composer: BallThe work of principal interest for readers in this fine collection of works by the English composer Christopher Ball (b.1936) is the Violin ...
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ArticleBaroque Cello Illuminations. Works by Eccles, De Fesch, Vivaldi, Couperin, Sammartini/Berteau & Bach
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Angela East (cello) Ruth Alford (Baroque cello) Howard Beach (harpsichord) Composer: Eccles, De Fesch, Vivaldi, Couperin, SamMartinu/Berteau & Bach Angela East offers an exciting and imaginative showcase for a selection of exam chestnuts, some bypassed in concerts ...
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ArticleBeethoven: Violin Concerto in D major op.61 BERG Violin Concerto
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Haydn Trio EisenstadtArabella Steinbacher (violin) WDR Symphony Orchestra Köln/Andris NelsonsComposer: Beethoven Very few recorded violinists have possessed the ideal combination of cantabile purity and angelic intensity for the Beethoven Concerto: Leonid Kogan, Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Christian ...
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ArticleKorngold: Violin Concerto in D major op.35, Schauspiel Overture, Much Ado About Nothing Suite
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Philippe Quint (violin) Mineria Symphony Orchestra/Carlos Miguel PrietoComposer: Korngold Although released at the same time as Nikolaj Znaider’s high-powered coupling of Korngold’s Hollywood-imbued Violin Concerto with the Brahms (reviewed last month), Philippe Quint’s account is more than just a ...
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ArticleVivaldi: Violin Concertos vol.3: RV210, RV268, RV307, RV312, RV333, RV350 & RV352
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Duilio M. Galfetti (violin) I Barocchisti/Diego FasolisComposer: Vivaldi This disc delivers more than it promises. The fashionable packaging (with a rather fallacious comparison between Vivaldi’s music and ‘swing’ in the booklet notes) prepared me for something over-marketed and mediocre, ...
