Search - Johann Christian Bach, Michael Haydn, Carl Stamitz :: Virtuoso Viola Concertos

The tings he make me to notice.

Tomoaki Miyazaki | Osaka Japan | 12/21/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I heard this CD, I was very surprise. Because I had not heard those sounds and the sounds of strings were softly. I think Christ is master of Viola. His sounds is kindly, softly and strongry. He has perfect technique, but he do not disprlay ostentation it. Concerto c-minor is difficult piece, but Christ plays perfectly and I feel he make me to notice the real sounds of Viola."

Yeah, finally!

Gregory M. Zinkl | Chicago, IL | 01/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wolfram Christ can be a boring performer (witness a deadpan Berlioz Harold in Italy with Maazel), but these works seem to suit him perfectly.The J.C. Bach Concerto (is *that* really J.C. Bach???) is quite splashy, especially witness the final movement. It's very exciting, and definitely worth exploring, with a tuneful first movement, and a lovely second. The first theme of I comes back to haunt in III, making it a "cyclical" work.The Stamitz is well known to any violist, and is a very rewarding concerto, regardless of the instrumentation.One reviewer stated that these works are not "virtuosic". That's a judgment made from the twentieth (twenty-first!) century: in their time, these works were considered to be very much the fare of virtuosos. The attitude that only modern or romantic works can be virtuosic (vis-a-vis the viola literature) miss the point. In any case, even music without lots of notes or string crossing, double stops, etc., is MUCH harder to perform; witness Mozart, where so many performers spin notes but don't make music. Conversely, virtuosic affairs by Sarasate or Paganini may have all of the fireworks, but no soul--the performer only need play all the notes.Anyway, I'm off the track. Explore this recording; it's rewarding!"

J.C. Bach Concerto NOT J.C. Bach

Kyle Williams | Jeffersonville, IN | 05/21/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The "J.C. Bach" concerto is really a piece by French composer, Henri Casadesus. Casadesus made a living for himself by composing works in a baroque or rococo idiom and then passing them off as works of other composers. He's also written a challenging concerto in B minor for viola, only that one Casadesus said was by Handel. Both concerti are staples for young viola students, and I studied both in my youth."