RECORDING OF THE MONTH RECORDING OF THE MONTH BARGAIN OF THE MONTH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Oboe Concerto £11 post free World-wide RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3 £12 post free World-wide CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY RACHMANINOV TRios 2CDs £16 post free World-wide

Con Brio

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Sonatas for solo violin No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 James Greening-Valenzuela (violin) Recorded December 2002 at Holdcraft Studios, Pleasant Hill, California, USA CON BRIO CBR-231 [no timings given]

The Bach unaccompanied violin sonatas have been worthy objectives for accomplished players for centuries; but the real problem is not who can play these fiendishly difficult works, but how they should be performed. The Sonatas contain both French and Italian influences and there are fugues in all of them. The soloist is confronted not only with the technical problems created by the contrapuntal nature of the music but also its melodic and harmonic complexity; yet its very freedom from academic conventions leaves such questions open. For these reasons playing them is a daunting prospect. There are marked differences in construction, and therefore in the sound, between baroque violins and those of the 19th century onwards. This disc is recorded with a Pietro Giovanni Guarneri of Bach’s time, though with significant alterations that make it, for practical purposes, a ‘modern’ instrument. It has steel strings and is played with a modern bow at ‘modern’ pitch (A=440). This creates some interesting problems for both player and listener. Greening-Valenzuela plays expressively throughout, and his technical resources are impressive, but it is impossible not to make comparisons with the softer sound of gut strings and the flexible and expressive possibilities of the baroque bow, especially in matters of articulation and ornamentation. From the opening bars of the G minor Sonata we are clearly in for a thrilling time, with finely marked counterpoint and somewhat measured tempi; but in movements that call for a less magisterial approach often leads to a certain slackness and lack of colour in the playing. This disc would not be my choice for this inexhaustible music but makes for interesting comparisons with more historically based performances. Roy Brewer Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.