All Reviews articles – Page 181
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ArticleSchmitt: Piano Quintet, Hasards
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Stanislas Quartet, Christian Ivaldi (piano)Composer: Schmitt One of Fauré’s most distinguished pupils, Florent Schmitt (1870–1958) was in many ways the ‘missing link’ in post-Romantic French music. Like his great teacher, Schmitt was not given to wearing his heart on ...
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ArticleBate: Viola Concerto. Vaughan Williams: Romance (orch. Chase). Bell: Rosa mystica
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Roger Chase (viola) BBC Concert Orchestra, Stephen Bell (conductor) Composer: Bate, Vaughan Williams, BellWilliam Henry Bell’s Rosa mystica is a three-movement viola concerto written in 1916, after the composer had settled in Cape Town as director of the South ...
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ArticleHolbrooke: Violin Sonata no.3 in F major ‘Orientale’*. Walford Davies: Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor op.7*. Rootham: Violin Sonata in G minor*. Arthur Benjamin: Cello Sonatina†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jacqueline Roche (violin) Justin Pearson (cello) Robert Stevenson (piano)* Sophia Rahman (piano)† Composer: Holbrooke, Walford Davies, Rootham, Arthur BenjaminThis disc of rarities by little-known English composers is of mixed appeal but is for the most part very finely performed. Joseph Holbrooke’s Violin ...
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ArticleShostakovich: Cello Concerto no.2 in G major op.126, Cello Sonata in D minor op.40
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sol Gabetta (cello) Mihaela Ursuleasa (piano) Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Albrecht (conductor)Composer: ShostakovichShostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto is much darker in nature than the composer’s first and has all too often been regarded as its poor cousin. Yet recently interest in the work ...
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ArticleRagaSaga for String Quartet
Musicians: V.S. Narasimhan (electric violins/electric viola) V.R. Sekar (electric cello) Composer: VariousV.S. Narasimhan’s musical experiences straddle the Western and Karnatak (South Indian) classical traditions, and his arrangements of the latter attempt to incorporate the former on this album.Firstly, a potential disappointment should be made explicit: this is ...
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ArticleDavid Anderson: Double Bass Sonata*. Luis Prado: Three Meditations for double bass and piano*. Boismortier: Sonata in D major op.50 no.3 (arr. Kurtz)†
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Jeremy Kurtz (double bass) Benjamin Kamins (bassoon)† Ines Irawati (piano)* Alison Luedecke (harpsichord)† Composer: David Anderson, Luis Prado, Boismortier The rich, post-Romantic harmonies and predominantly slow tempos of both US bassist David Anderson’s Double Bass Sonata (1990) and the ...
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ArticleArensky: Violin Concerto in A minor op.54. Taneyev: Suite de concert op.28
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor)Composer: Arensky, TaneyevIlya Gringolts plays the Arensky Concerto as though it is a blazing masterpiece. In a recording in which he is backed to the hilt by Ilan Volkov and the ...
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ArticleRózsa: Viola Concerto op.37, Hungarian Serenade op.25
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gilad Karni (viola) Budapest Concert Orchestra MÁV, Mariusz Smolij (conductor)Composer: Rózsa In spite – or because – of his huge success in Hollywood, Miklós Rózsa strictly separated his work for the film industry from his ‘serious’ compositions ...
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ArticleVieuxtemps: Violin Concerto no.5 in A minor op.37. Wieniawski: Violin Concerto no.2 in D minor op.22, Fantaisie brillante on Themes from Gounod’s ‘Faust’ op.20
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Corey Cerovsek (violin) Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)Composer: Vieuxtemps, WieniawskiAlthough Corey Cerovsek and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra deliver polished performances here, this disc displays a conventional stylistic approach to the repertoire. Cerovsek, born in Vancouver and a graduate of Toronto’s Royal ...
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ArticleDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104. Herbert: Cello Concerto no.2 in E minor op.30
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Gautier Capuçon (cello) Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi (conductor)Composer: Dvorák, HerbertGautier Capuçon is not the first cellist to have paired these two concertos from 1890s New York, though I’m not convinced of the wisdom of showing up a mediocre work with ...
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ArticleStrauss: Volin Sonata in E flat major op.18. Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no.1 in F minor op. 80
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker (violin) Fabio Bidini (piano) Composer: Strauss, ProkofievSabrina-Vivian Höpcker impresses in this debut CD, with captivating readings of sonatas by Strauss and Prokofiev, and she is given impeccable support by pianist Fabio Bidini. Strauss’s beautiful but fiendish Sonata ...
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ArticleEuropa. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Szymanowski: Mythes op.30. Enescu: Violin Sonata no.3 in A major op.25. Bartók:Violin Rhapsody no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: David Grimal (violin) Georges Pludermacher (piano)Composer: Janacek, Szymanowski, Enescu, Bartók Juxtaposing major works written within the space of 13 years by four European composers would appear a fascinating concept, though in the event this disc shows just how ...
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ArticleSaariaho: Notes on Light*, Orion, Mirage†
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anssi Karttunen (cello)* Karita Mattila (soprano)† Orchestre de Paris, Christoph Eschenbach (conductor) Composer: SaariahoThe music of the respected Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (b.1952) is precise and passionate, full of evanescent textures that suddenly dissipate or burst into ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets in E flat major op.74 & F minor op.95
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Tokyo Quartet Composer: BeethovenThis is the third instalment in the Tokyo Quartet’s complete Beethoven quartet cycle, and heady stuff it is. The op.74 Quartet is often seen as a gentle work, coming amid the might and severity ...
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ArticleGrieg: Holberg Suite op.40. Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik K525. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings op.48
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Moscow Soloists, Yuri Bashmet (conductor) Composer: Grieg, Mozart, TchaikovskyDespite its obvious merits, I cannot issue a compulsory purchase order for this disc. At least one colleague has raved about it but I am left with a rather chilly ...
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ArticleGnattali: Waltz. Santoro: String Quartet no.3. Guarnieri: String Quartet no.3. Villa-Lobos: String Quartet no.6
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Radamés Gnattali Quartet Composer: Gnattali, Santoro, Guarnieri, Villa-LobosThe music of four 20th-century Brazilian composers comes vividly to life in this recording by the Radamés Gnattali Quartet. This is playing of real energy, laced with a poignant touch of nostalgia: ...
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ArticleBrahms: Piano Quartets in G minor op.25 & in C minor op.60
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Nash Ensemble Composer: BrahmsThis is one of the finest CDs of the past year. I felt respectful towards the Nash’s Mozart piano quartets but in Brahms these players are in their element. Anchored by gigantic virtuosity from Ian ...
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ArticleIn recital. Waxman: Carmen Fantasy. Tchaikovsky: Valse–Scherzo op.34, Méditation from Souvenir d’un lieu cher op.42. Szymanowski: Mythes op.30. Chausson: Poème op.25. Stravinsky: Suite italienne
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Mayuko Kamio (violin) Vadim Gladkov (piano) Composer: Waxman, Tchaikovsky, Szymanowski, Chausson, StravinskyStill only 22, Mayuko Kamio made her concert debut in her native Japen at the age of ten, and as a teenager she won a ...
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ArticleVivaldi: Cello Concertos vol.2: in C major RV399, in C minor RV401, in D major RV403, in B minor RV408, in F major RV411, in G minor RV417 & in A minor RV422
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Christophe Coin (cello) Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)Composer: Vivaldi Vivaldi’s rhythmically punchy and harmonically direct style always sits well with period-performance ensembles, of which Il Giardino Armonico is a particularly imaginative example. The group’s timbre is ‘nutty’ and ...
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ArticlePatriots. Grieg: Violin Sonatas in G major op.13 & in F major op.8. Ives: Violin Sonatas no.2 & no.4 ‘Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting’
The Strad Issue: January 2009Musicians: Anne Yarrow (violin) Caspar Dechmann (piano) Composer: Grieg, IvesPlaying of real power and passion from Anne Yarrow unfortunately does not disguise the sloppy tuning that mars this disc, in particular the two Grieg sonatas, ranging from notes here and there ...
