JAVS Fall 2002

96

VOL.l8No.2&3

jOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY

Theme and Variations; Variations in C. Alexander Besa, viola; Ludmila Peterkova, clarinet; Jiri Belohlavet, conductor. Supraphon SU 3554-2 Review: ... Peterkova is joined by another bril liant Czech artist, prizewinner Alexander Besa, rich, firm and true, and the impact on the performance is heightened by the warm, immediate recording ... -Edward Greenfield, Gramophone Clarke: Viola Sonata; Vieuxtemps: Viola Sonata; Enescu: Konzertstiick. Barbara Westphal, viola; Jeffrey Swann, piano. Bridge 9109 Review: . .. Enescu's Konzertstiick is effective as a brilliant showpiece with a heart ... Westphal ... draws a gorgeously deep dark tone ... has a wide palette of colors ... a beautifully produced record ing.-Carlos Maria Solare, Strad Druckman: Viola Concerto; Brangle; Counter poise. Roberto Diaz, viola; Wolfgang Sawallisch, David Zinman, conductors; Philadelphia Orchestra. New World 80560 Review: This is a wonderful disc, perhaps, in the end, the finest to come out of Wolfgang Sawallisch's tenure with the Philadelphia Or chestra. Jacob Druckman (1928-1996) came to prominence in the '70s as part of the generation of American composers who, having renounced seri alism, were the formulators ofwhat was then called the new romanticism ... This is most urgently rec ommended and I'm sure it will be on my want list come December. It's that good. -John Story, Fanfare Ghedini: Muska da Concerto for Viola, Viola d'amore, and String Orchestra; Violin Concerto; Sibelius: L'Humoresques. Mela Tenenbaum, viola, violin, viola d'amore; Richard Kapp, conduc tor; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Pro Muska Prague Ess.a.y. CD 1075 Review: . . . Her (Tenenbaum's) considerable efforts weigh in to greater advantage in Ghedini's Muska da Concerto for viola, viola d'amore and string orchestra ... to me, this recording's merits lie in Ghedini's (composition), and it's well worth the price of admission. -Barry Brenesal, Fanfare Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto; Kancheli: Styx. Yuri Bashmet, viola; St. Petersburg Chamber Choir; Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, St.

Petersburg; Valery Gergiev. DG 20/21E471 494 2GH Review: . . . These composers are rugged indi vidualists from far-flung outposts of the old Soviet empire.... Styx deploys stock, sometimes crudely melodramatic gestures . . . On this evidence, Gubaidulina remains not just the more ascetic fig ure but, paradoxically, the more communicative of the two ... Reaffirm(s) Bashmet's status as the most charismatic violist performing today. -David Gutman, Gramophone Twentieth Century Music: A Portrait of the Viola: Harrison: Viola Sonata; Clarke: Viola Sonata; Morpheus; Lullaby 1909; Lullaby-Irish Tune; I'll Bid My Heart Be Still; Swain: English Reel; Gould: Oh Can Ye Sew Cushions. Helen Callus, viola; Robert McDonald, piano. ASV Digital CD DCA 1130 Review: Helen Callus, as far as I've ascertained, makes her debut recording, with works of 20th century British composers and female at that. She plays the Clarke sonata which is rapidly entering the mainstream of viola compositions. But composi tions by Freda Swain (1902-1985), Janetta Gould (b. 1926), and Pamela Harrison (1915- 1990) are new to my collection. The sleeper as far as I'm con cerned is the Harrison sonata. This is a major com position written in 1946 that violists will surely embrace. Callus was trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London and Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She was appointed Professor ofViola at the University ofWashington in Seattle at the age of 26. Ms. Callus has the technique, tone quality, and musical sensitivity to display these charming com positions in a sterling performance. American pianist Robert McDonald, Juilliard faculty member, brings his expertise to the fore. Ligeti: Sonata; Kurtag: Jelek!Zeichen; Dillon: Siorram; Dusapin: Inside; Sciarrino: Tre Notturni Brillanti; Berio: Sequenza VI. Garth Knox, viola. WDRMO 782082 Review: From the very first section of the Ligeti Sonata where the violist sounds as if he is out of tune, the music becomes more and more bizarre scratchings, screechings, wailings follow one com position after the other. I swear one section of one composition sounds exactly as if there were fighting cats. I realize the composers are trying to expand