MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Buy through MusicWeb for £12.00 postage paid World Wide.
You may prefer to pay by Sterling cheque or Euro notes to avoid PayPal. Contact for details

Musicweb Purchase button

 

Suites and Partitas of Modern Times
Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Suite Italienne (1933) [17:54];
Luigi DALLAPICCOLA (1904-1975) Tartiniana Seconda (Divertimento) (1956) [11:04];
Frédéric van ROSSUM (b.1939) Graffiti op. 16 (1968) [4:24];
Alfred SCHNITTKE (1934-1998) Suite im Altem Style (1972) [14:53];
Witold LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913-1994) Partita (1984) [16:44];
Don FREUND (b.1947) Sonapartita, noch nach Bach (2001) [10:55]
Daniel Rubenstein (violin)
Muhiddin Dürrüoglu-Demiriz (piano)
rec. Théâtre Saint-Michel, Brussels, 1-4 August 2002
TALENT DOM 2910 125 [75:53]



There is something very refreshing about a disc which almost makes a virtue of its plainness. It presents a series of six comparatively short works, most themselves divided into shorter movements or sections, in chronological order of composition and which have the simple link that all were influenced by or directly based on baroque models. It would be a pity nonetheless if its somewhat dry title and appearance were to put casual listeners off in favour of something with more obvious audience appeal. For me at least, this disc has that in quantities.

The Stravinsky is an arrangement the composer made of movements from "Pulcinella" for him to play with Samuel Dushkin. It is probably the best known piece here, and comes across freshly with plenty of bounce but without the thick vibrato-laden tone which some better known violinists have been known to inflict on it. The Dallapiccola is perhaps less familiar, although it too has been recorded on a number of occasions. Heard directly after the Stravinsky the differences in their musical character are readily apparent, with Dallapiccola’s lyrical use of counterpoint casting a different light on the baroque figuration which both works employ.

The short piece by the Belgian composer van Rossum was written for a national music competition. It is less obviously attractive but does not outstay its brief welcome. The Schnittke in comparison is the most obviously charming piece, mainly consisting of apparently straightforward pastiche, although as always with this composer what is on the surface is not necessarily the whole story. The comparatively well-known Lutosławski Partita is always worth hearing, with a dramatic manner which commands immediate attention. The final piece, by the American Don Freund, was written specifically for this CD and takes its name from Bach’s two great sets of works for unaccompanied violin – the Sonatas and the Partitas. It is apparently influenced by what he describes as "an antique style-period – the late 1960s", a reference which makes me feel very much an antique myself, especially as I well remember the excitement at that time of the works by George Rochberg and Lukas Foss to which he refers as influences here. It is an enjoyable piece, and one which I hope will have a life beyond this disc.

The two performers have set themselves a formidable task with this programme, but come out of it very well. The recording is somewhat dry but by no means uncomfortable to listen to. Overall this is a disc that is likely to provide much - possibly unexpected - pleasure.

John Sheppard

see also review by Dominy Clements

TALENT Catalogue




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


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.