All Reviews articles – Page 191
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ArticleGarth: Six Concertos for the Violoncello op.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Richard Tunnicliffe (cello) Avison Ensemble, Pavlo Besnosiuk (director)Composer: Garth The talented English organist, composer and entrepreneur John Garth (1721–1810) was based largely in Durham. His six cello concertos op.1 were published in 1760 and are transitional works in ...
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ArticleL. Berkeley: String Quartets nos.1–3
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Maggini Quartet Composer: L. BerkeleyI’ve been a fan of violinist Lorraine McAslan since she first burst upon the scene with a stunning 1989 account of the Britten concerto for the now defunct Collins Classics label (reissued on Naxos 8.557198), so it was ...
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ArticleViola incognita. Milhaud: Viola Sonata no.1 op.240. Hindemith: Viola Sonata in F major op.11 no.4. Winkler: Viola Sonata op.10
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pavel Ciprys (viola) Daniel Wiesner (piano)Composer: Milhaud, Hindemith, Winkler I am not sure which ‘unknown’ elements the title of this CD refers to. The viola itself? Hardly. The repertoire? Two of the three works are among the best known ...
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ArticleBach: Brandenburg Concertos nos.1–6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: European Brandenburg Ensemble, Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director)Composer: BachIf you haven’t heard of the European Brandenburg Ensemble before, that’s because this is its first recording, and hopefully not the last. Trevor Pinnock has gathered around him some of the finest of Europe’s ...
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ArticleBax: String Quartet no.1 in G major. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor op.83
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: PavÁo QuartetComposer: Bax, Elgar The last couple of decades have witnessed a remarkable general increase in quartet playing standards, yet the downside has been a corresponding tendency towards greater musical objectivism. What a relief, then, to discover ...
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ArticleSchumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44. Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major (Trout), Die Forelle
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Atlantis Ensemble, Max von Egmond (baritone) Composer: Schumann, SchubertIt is said that Schumann wept aloud when he heard news of Schubert’s death. Hence this pairing is apt, for this epitome of 19th-century Romantics had the pantheon of Haydn, Mozart, ...
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ArticleMozart: Violin Sonatas in G major K301, in E minor K304, in F major K376 & in B flat major K454
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Aaron Berofsky (violin) Thomas Sauer (piano)Composer: Mozart Aaron Berofsky argues in the CD booklet that Mozart described this group of works as ‘Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin’ out of convention, which didn’t prevent his later scores bringing the two ...
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ArticleBritten: Cello Sonata, Suite no.3 for solo cello. Shostakovich: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Karine Georgian (cello) Jeremy Young (piano)Composer: Britten, Shostakovich Karine Georgian is an established cellist and pedagogue who, on the evidence of this release, deserves a wider audience. These three works – all written for her teacher Rostropovich – ...
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ArticleTishchenko: Concerto for Violin, Piano & String Orchestra, Dante-Symphony no.3 ‘Hell: Circles 7–9’
The Strad Issue: Febraury 2008Musicians: Alexander Rozhdestvensky (violin) Viktoria Postnikova (piano) String Orchestra of St Petersburg, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor)Composer: Tishchenko The main event here is an all-too-painfully illustrative symphony (2001) concerned with the deepest circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno that ...
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ArticlePaganini:‘Non piu mesto’ from Rossini’s ‘La cenerentola’ (arr. Kreisler), Caprice no.24 in A minor (arr. Kreisler), Variations on ‘God Save the King’, Cantabile (arr. Kinsky & Rothschild), etc
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ning Feng (violin) Thomas Hoppe (piano)Composer: PaganiniBorn in Chengdu, China, Ning Feng enjoyed a string of competition successes while studying variously with Weiman Hu (Sichuan), Hu Kun (London) and Antje Weithaas (Berlin), before winning the 51st Paganini International Completion in 2006. His ...
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ArticleWieniawski: Violin concerto no.2 in D minor. Szymanowski: Violin concerto no.2 op.61. Lutoslawski: Chain 2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Benjamin Schmid (violin) Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Raiskin (conductor) Composer: Wieniawski, Szymanowski, LutoslawskiBenjamin Schmid is never less than highly impressive in this chronologically arranged programme, featuring three celebrated Polish works for violin. Yet one senses a special identification with ...
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ArticleDvorák: Terzetto in C major op.74, Piano Quartet in E flat major op.87. Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E flat major op.16
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Composer: Dvorák, BeethovenDvo?ák’s Terzetto, for two violins and viola, gives a clue to the strengths if also the limitations of these three readings by the respected Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. Their ...
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Kraus: Violin Concerto in C major VB151, Olympie (incidental music) VB33, Azire (ballet music) VB18
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Takako Nishizaki (violin) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Grodd (conductor)Composer: Kraus The only surviving concertante work of Joseph Kraus (1756–92), the Violin Concerto in C major (1777), is substantial in both length and content. It incorporates moments of ...
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ArticleJ.S. Bach: Six Suites for solo cello BWV1007–12
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) Composer: Bach Lightness and elegance are the keywords in these interpretations by French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. Although he has performed the works on a Baroque cello, he favours a modern set-up here for his ...
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ArticleBrahms: Violin Sonatas in G major op.78, in A major op.100 & in D minor op.108, Scherzo WoO2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Antje Weithaas (violin) Silke Avenhaus (piano) Composer: BrahmsAntje Weithaas and Silke Avenhaus strike a finely judged balance between rhetoric and lyricism from the very opening of the G major Sonata and subordinate their technical prowess to the music throughout. ...
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ArticleHaydn: String Quartets in G minor op.20 no.3, in C major op.74 no.1 & in G major op.76 no.1
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Amsterdam Quartet Composer: HaydnThat the players of the Amsterdam Quartet employ gut strings and use period bows is obvious from their highly distinctive tonal quality, and the avoidance of vibrato etches every nuance of their interpretations with total clarity ...
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ArticlePaganini: Violin Concertos nos.1–6
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Ingolf Turban (violin) WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, Lior Shambadal (conductor)Composer: PaganiniIn the hands of Ingolf Turban Paganini is not just an artist and virtuoso but an opera composer manqué. He plays many of the melodies as if they have lyrics, and mightily ...
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ArticleBeethoven: String Quartets op.18 nos.1-6
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Tokyo Quartet Composer: BeethovenFew ensembles exceed the high standards of the Tokyo Quartet. Its members here produce a sumptuous, beautifully blended sonority from their matching set of Stradivari instruments and perform with outstanding musical insight, unanimity ...
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ArticleRózsa: Violin Concerto, Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello
Musicians: Anastasia Khitruk (violin) Andrei Tchekmazov (cello) Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitri Yablonsky (conductor) Composer: RózsaMíklós Rózsa may have composed the music for over 90 films, but his ‘classical’ output reveals him on a par with his contemporary Erich Korngold. Indeed his solo string concertos, ...
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ArticleAn Italian Sojourn. Sonatas by Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & Veracini
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Trio SettecentoComposer: Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & VeraciniTrio Settecento’s period-instrument accounts conjure up an attractive intimacy, even if violinist Rachel Barton Pine occasionally reverts to an attack and technical vocabulary more appropriate to the present century. Nevertheless, these players ...
