All Reviews articles – Page 177
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quintet in C minor op.104, Duo in E flat major for viola & cello WoO32 ‘Eyeglass’, Piano Quartet in E flat major op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nash EnsembleComposer: Beethoven Like many sequels, this follow-up to the Nash’s enjoyable disc of the two proper Beethoven string quintets (CDA 67693) is only partially successful. The main problem is op.104, one of those cases where Beethoven merely corrected ...
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ArticlePleyel: Violin Concerto in D major Benton 103/103A, Symphonies concertantes in B flat major Benton 112 & A major Benton 114
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: David Perry, Isabella Lippi (violin) Victoria Chiang (viola) Baltimore Chamber Orchestra/Markand Thakar (conductor)Composer: Pleyel David Perry gives an assured account of Pleyel’s D major Violin Concerto, combining its original first two movements with a later substitute finale (the original finale ...
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ArticleBach's Suites for Solo Cello BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tatjana Vassiljeva (cello)Composer: Bach The Bach cello suites beckon to all cellists as Everest does to mountaineers. Part of the compelling attraction of both performing and listening to these works lies in the spiritual and ethereal qualities encased in the ...
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ArticleGarland: String Quartets no.1 ‘In Praise of Poor Scholars’ & no.2 ‘Crazy Cloud’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Apartment HouseComposer: Garland The music on this disc is deceptively simple: tonal, consonant, full of glorious melodies and glowing harmonies, it nevertheless repays repeated listening and draws the listener ever deeper in, slowly revealing its highly worked craftsmanship. Its composer, ...
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ArticleHindemith: Complete viola music vol.1: Viola Sonatas op.11 no.4, op.25 no.4 & ‘1939, Meditation from ‘Nobilissima visione’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Lawrence Power (viola) Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano)Composer: Hindemith Paul Hindemith wrote his viola compositions for his own use as a concert artist. Accordingly, they reflect his personal playing style, one characterised by a taut rhythmic sense and the avoidance of any ...
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ArticleAntheil: Lithuanian Night, Six Little Pieces, String Quartets nos.1, 2 & 3
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Del Sol QuartetComposer: AntheilThe quirky character of avant-garde composer George Antheil is laid bare in this survey of his complete string quartets, with compellingly detailed biographical notes by musicologist Mauro Piccinini. Born in New Jersey, Antheil spent much time in Paris where ...
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ArticleThere Is No Sound in Space
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: James Sudakow (electric violin) Eric Zimmermann (guitar/programming) Composer: VariousDon’t go near this CD if you have a horror of progressive rock, as this is very much violinist James Sudakow’s starting point in creating a disc where his electric violin essentially functions ...
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ArticleBlitzstein: String Quartet ‘Italian’, Serenade for string quartet, solo piano works
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Del Sol Quartet, Sarah Cahill (piano) Composer: BlitzsteinMarc Blitzstein (1905–64) was a phenomenally gifted piano virtuoso as well as a composer with a highly distinctive creative voice. He had lessons from both Schoenberg and Nadia Boulanger, but it was the ...
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ArticleMusica Latina. Works by Bonfa, Granda, Lara, Pixiguinha, Jobim, Piazzolla, Velasquez, Corona, Duran & Abreu
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Quartetto Gelato, with Penderecki Quartet, Kristina Reiko Cooper (cello) Roberto Occhipinti (double bass) Rosendo ‘Chendy’ Leon, Maninho Costa (percussion) Cynthia Steljes (cor anglais) Composer: Bonfa, Granda, Lara, Pixiguinha, Jobim, Piazzolla, Velasquez, Corona, Duran & AbreuThis is jolly: the Toronto-based Quartetto Gelato (which ...
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ArticleAlbinoni: Sinfonie a cinque op.2
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Chiara Banchini (violin/director) Ensemble 415Composer: Albinoni Tomaso Albinoni’s six Sinfonie a cinque, trio sonatas in all but name, alternate with concertos in his op.2 (Venice, 1700). Ensemble 415 performs them with an appealing simplicity, which spawns a natural feeling for ...
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ArticleLight
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ben Powell (violin) Cedric Hanriot (piano) Richard Greenblatt (vibes) Jon Sosin (guitar) Aaron Darrell, David Hollender (double bass) Devin Drebka (drums) Composer: VariousCheltenham-born Ben Powell is still a student in jazz composition at Berklee College. This assured debut recording, produced from a ...
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ArticlePurcell: Complete fantazias
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Fretwork Composer: PurcellAmazingly, Henry Purcell’s fantazia’s in four parts were all written in one concentrated burst of creativity, the first seven dating from almost consecutive days of June 1680, with the remaining two coming from August of the same year. The canon ...
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ArticleCinema
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Laurent Korcia (violin) Michael Wendeberg, Matthieu Gonet (piano/conductor) Vincent Peirani (accordion) Pierre Boussaguet (double bass) Fuzjko Hemming (piano) European Chamber Orchestra Lochen, plus additional musicians Composer: VariousIf ever a disc was made for shameless wallowing, this is the one. French violinist ...
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ArticleFrançaix: Les inestimables chroniques du Grand Gargantua, L’heure du berger, Sérénade B.E.A.
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: La PietÁ /Angèle Dubeau, Albert Millaire (reciter)Composer: Françaix Jean Françaix (1912–97) perpetuated the Gallic traditions of Les Six to the end of the last century with a nonchalantly deft style and delicious sense of irony. A brilliant pianist and highly ...
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ArticleMatteis: Ayrs for the violin
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Hélène Schmitt (violin) Gaetano Nasillo (cello) Eric Bellocq (guitar/lute) Jörg-Andreas Bötticher (harpsichord/organ)Composer: Matteis Nicola Matteis was a key figure in the development of violin playing in 17th-century England, providing, in Roger North’s words, ‘the means of settling ...
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ArticleDohnányi: Cello Sonata in B flat minor op.8. Kodály: Cello Sonata op.4. Strauss: Cello Sonata in F major op.6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nancy Green (cello) Tannis Gibson (piano) Composer: Dohnányi, Kodály, StraussNancy Green brings a boldly dramatic delivery to these three fine sonatas, with fluent and forthright performances that are enhanced by her clear and vocally orientated feeling for the musical line. ...
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ArticleLutoslawski: Recitativo e arioso, Subito, Partita. Szymanowski: Myths op.30. Janácek: Violin Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ariadne Daskalakis (violin) Miri Yampolsky (piano)Composer: Lutoslawski, Szymanowski, Janácek Lutos?awski’s entire output for violin and piano amounts to less than 25 minutes, and only the Partita can be regarded as a score of major significance. Commissioned in 1984 by ...
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ArticleLegacy of the Hollywood Composers. Korngold: String Quartet no.2 in E flat major op.26. Rózsa: String Quartet no.2 op.38. Rota: Invenzioni
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Weber Quartet Composer: Korngold, Rózsa, RotaThe Swedish-based Weber Quartet deserves full marks for enterprise with this programme of music by composers best-known for their film scores. Only the Korngold piece has tangible links with Hollywood, in that his style remained ...
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ArticleBach's Cello Suites BWV1007–12
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sigiswald Kuijken (shoulder cello)Composer: Bach Sigiswald Kuijken decided some years ago that the instrument for which Bach wrote his cello suites was neither the instrument we know today nor the viola pomposa he is sometimes credited with inventing, but a ...
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ArticleDvorák: Violin Concerto in A minor op.53, Violin Sonata in F major op.57, Violin Sonatina in G major op.100
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jack Liebeck (violin) Katya Apekisheva (piano) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Garry WalkerComposer: DvorákBringing together all three of Dvo?ák’s major solo violin scores is an excellent idea for a well-filled disc, particularly so when offered in such outstanding performances. Having rejected the competition circuit ...
