Word: violists
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Bach: Suites Nos. 4 & 5 (Lillian Fuchs viola; Decca). A rare chance to hear the darkling tones of the violin's big cousin played at its best. Violist Fuchs gives the unaccompanied works as much verve as if she were supported by a full symphony...
...cognoscenti gave their closest attention to the Festival Piano Quartet (a string trio and piano). Its players were famous "lone wolves of music," Pianist Clifford Curzon, Violinist Joseph Szigeti, Violist William Primrose, Cellist Pierre Fournier, and its founder was the late great Pianist Artur Schnabel. Like most serious musicians, the big-name soloists love to play chamber music; for the privilege of playing together, they agreed to accept fees far below their normal standard. Their performances of Brahms, Schubert and Fauré were brilliant. But few listeners outside of Edinburgh will have a chance to hear them: the quartet will...
Isidore Cohen, Violist Karen Tuttle and Cellist Madeline Foley, and still found time for a brisk schedule of concerts in Buffalo, Indianapolis and Chicago...
Mozart's G Minor Piano Quartet, one of the real gems of the chamber repertoire, received a performance that can most mercifully be described as undistinguished. Not only was the technique (especially of violist Joseph Schaaf) inadequate, but also the conception of the music seemed stilted. Instead of employing the straightforward, relaxed interpretation that the work calls for, the ensemble tried to make it sound like a Nineteenth Century virtuoso piece. They failed...
Bartok: Viola Concerto (William Primrose, viola; the New Symphony Orchestra of London, Tibor Serly conducting; Bartok Records, 2 sides LP). Bartok sums up his own distinctive chromatic and rhapsodic language in this, one of his last compositions. A magnificent first recording of the concerto by the violist who commissioned it and the composer-conductor who completed it after Bartok's death...