All Reviews articles – Page 94
-
ReviewBorenstein: Violin Concerto; The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe; If you will it, it is no dream
The Strad Issue: November 2017Description: Contemporary works full of grand gestures and soaring melodyMusicians: Irmina Trynkos (violin) Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir AshkenazyComposer: Nimrod Borenstein Catalogue Number: CHANDOS CHSA 5209 Tel Aviv-born composer Nimrod Borenstein lays bare his love of the large-scale, virtuosic concerto ...
-
ReviewArmida Quartet – Fuga Magna: Bach, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Goldberg, Haussmann
The Strad Issue: November 2017Description: An imaginative exploration of the art of the fugueMusicians: Armida Quartet, Raphael Alpermann (harpsichord)Works: Bach: Contrapunctus I, IV & XI (The Art of Fugue BWV1080), Beethoven: Grosse Fugue in B flat major op.133, Goldberg: Sonata in C minor, ...
-
ReviewTasmin Little – Szymanowski: Violin Concertos nos.1 & 2, Karlowicz: Violin Concerto
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: November 2017Description: Romantic concertos that stand in a class of their ownMusicians: Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward GardnerComposer: Szymanowski, KarlowiczCatalogue Number: CHANDOS CHSA 5185 ‘I maintain that our national music is not the ossified ghosts of ...
-
ArticleMarc Coppey – Bloch: Schelomo, Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor; Silent Woods op.68
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: November 2017Description: Unusually fine versions of much-recorded cello worksMusicians: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Kirill KarabitsComposer: Bloch, Dvořák Catalogue Number: AUDITE 97.734 It’s a truism that fashion and taste exert quite an influence on performance styles in each decade. Here, Marc Coppey ...
-
ArticleMendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor op.64; Symphony no.5 ‘Reformation’ op.107; Concert Overture ‘The Hebrides’ op.26
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: November 2017Description: A familiar concerto sounds freshly minted and in tip-top conditionMusicians: Isabelle Faust (violin), Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Pablo Heras-CasadoComposer: Mendelssohn Catalogue Number: HARMONIA MUNDI HMM 902325 How refreshing it is to witness a soloist adopting some of the recommendations ...
-
ReviewMichel Portal, Ébène Quartet: Eternal Stories. Piazolla, Five Tango Sensations; and works by Colombet, Portal, Tribolet, Le Magadure, Merlin and Boisseau
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Elegant, catchy and highly accomplished jazz/string quartet fusionMusicians: Michel Portal (clarinet, bandonéon) Xavier Tribolet (keyboards) Richard Hery (drums) Ébène QuartetComposer: Piazolla etc.Catalogue Number: ERATO 0190295839567 The Ébène Quartet has a dual studio career. In between recordings of ...
-
ReviewCalifornia Quartet: Sergey Taneyev, String Quartets nos.2 & 6
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Russian Romantic composer’s quartets benefits from loving performancesMusicians: California QuartetComposer: TaneyevCatalogue Number: CENTAUR CRC 3589 Sergey Taneyev may have lacked the strong creative personality of his teacher Tchaikovsky and his pupils Rachmaninoff and Scriabin yet, like Glazunov, he was a ...
-
ReviewIlya Gringolts: Stravinsky, Pastorale; Duo concertant; Suite for Violin and Piano; etc
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: A somewhat diffident account of self-effacing StravinskyMusicians: Ilya Gringolts (violin) Peter Laul (piano) Composer: StravinskyCatalogue Number: BIS 2245 (SACD) Stravinsky expressed dissatisfaction with the combination of strings and piano. Sometimes I wonder if he wrote the Duo concertant to prove ...
-
ReviewAntonio Meneses: Schumann, Cello Concerto in A minor; Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto no.1 in A minor; Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations
The Strad Issue: October 2017 Description: Wonderful birthday celebration disc of concertos from a cello star Musicians: Antonio Meneses (cello) Royal Northern Sinfonia/Claudio Cruz Composer: Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky Catalogue Number: AVIE AV2373 Cellist Antonio Meneses turned 60 this year, and to mark the occasion ...
-
ReviewFrancesco & Stefano Cerrato, Armoniosa: Platti Trio Sonatas
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: The Cerrato brothers make a convincing case for some rarely performed sonatasMusicians: Francesco Cerrato (Baroque violin), Stefano Cerrato (Baroque cello), ArmoniosaComposer: PlattiCatalogue Number: MDG 9031978-6 Giovanni Platti’s (c.1697–1763) Trio Sonatas, written for the unusual combination of violin, cello and continuo, ...
-
ArticleIronwood: Brahms, Piano Quartet no.1; Piano Quintet
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS Strad Issue: June 2017Everything’s right in these exquisitely played period performances Musicians: Ironwood: Robin Wilson, Rachael Beesley (violins), Nicole Forsyth (viola), Daniel Yeadon (cello), Neal Peres Da Costa (piano) Composer: Brahms Catalogue Number: ABC CLASSICS 481 4686 This beautiful ...
-
ReviewAlina Ibragimova, Cédric Tiberghien: Mozart Violin Sonatas
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Standards remain high: some of the most committed Mozart playing you’ll hearMusicians: Alina Ibragimova (violin) Cédric Tiberghien (fortepiano)Composer: MozartCatalogue Number: HYPERION CDA68164 [2 CDs] Volume 4 of this acclaimed cycle sustains the high standards of its predecessors, presenting a careful ...
-
ReviewJi Young Lim, Dong Hyen Lim: Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas
Mozart: Violin Sonatas: no.18 in G major K301, no.21 in E minor K304, no.26 in B flat major K378; Beethoven: Violin Sonata no.1 in D major op.12The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Stylish Classical debut disc from Queen Elisabeth Prize winner Musicians: Ji Young Lim ...
-
ReviewMessiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps; Krakauer: Akoka; Socalled: Meanwhile…
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Curious bookends that meditate on the end of timeMusicians: Jonathan Crow (violin) Matt Haimovitz (cello) David Krakauer (clarinet) Geoffrey Burleson (piano) Socalled (electronics)Composer: Messiaen, Krakauer, Socalled Catalogue Number: PENTATONE OXINGALE SERIES PTC 5186 560 (hybrid SACD) Matt Haimovitz’s disc is ...
-
ReviewIreland: Cello Sonata in G minor; Delius: Violin Sonata no.3 (arr. Handy); Bax: Cello Sonata
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: An unfairly neglected British cello sonata is given a chance to shineMusicians: Lionel Handy (cello) Jennifer Hughes (piano)Composer: Ireland, Delius, Bax Catalogue Number: LYRITA SRCD361 Commissioned by Gaspar Cassadó, Bax’s Cello Sonata is cloaked in grand gesture and accessible tonal ...
-
ReviewHigdon: Viola Concerto; Oboe Concerto; All Things Majestic
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Debut on disc for a new American viola concertoMusicians: Roberto Díaz (viola) James Button (oboe) Nashville Symphony/Giancarlo GuerreroComposer: Jennifer Higdon Catalogue Number: NAXOS 8.559823 Jennifer Higdon, teacher of composition at the Curtis Institute of Music, wrote her Viola Concerto in ...
-
ReviewGlass: Partitas nos.1 (‘Songs and Poems’) & 2; The Secret Agent; The Paris Sky
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Engaging and clear performances of Bach-tinted GlassMusicians: Matt Haimovitz (cello)Composer: Glass Catalogue Number: ORANGE MOUNTAIN MUSIC OMM 0117 In the booklet note to this engaging release on his own label, Philip Glass acknowledges the early influence of Bach’s Solo Cello ...
-
ReviewChisholm: Violin Concerto; Dance Suite; Preludes from the True Edge of the Great World
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Little-known 20th-century violin concerto casts a dramatic spellMusicians: Matthew Trusler (violin) Danny Driver (piano) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn BrabbinsComposer: Chisholm Catalogue Number: HYPERION CDA 68208 Here’s a neglected voice in 20th-century British music – and on the evidence of a ...
-
ReviewChaconnes and Fantasias - Britten: String Quartets no.2 in C major op.36 & no.3 in G major op.94; Purcell: Chacony in G minor (arr. Britten), Fantazias nos 6, 8, 10 & 11
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Fantasy and intensity at play in a British line of musical successionMusicians: Emerson QuartetComposer: Britten, Purcell Catalogue Number: DECCA GOLD 4815204 The musical relationships between Britten and his illustrious forebear Purcell are explored on this neatly conceived programme, which intermingles ...
-
ReviewC.P.E. Bach: Violin Sonatas in D major, D minor, C major, F major, B minor, B flat major, C minor; Sinfonia in D major; Fantasia in F sharp minor; Arioso with Variations in A major
The Strad Issue: October 2017Description: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s music in its enjoyable, varied entiretyMusicians: Duo Belder KimuraComposer: C.P.E. BachCatalogue Number: RESONUS RES10192 (2 CDs) This comprehensive survey of C.P.E. Bach’s works for keyboard and violin traces his artistic development from the period of his ...
