JAVS Spring 2023

Recording Reviews

by Lanson Wells

In this issue, we highlight three spectacular recent recordings by three truly gifted violists: Debussy | Ravel by violist Roger Benedict, Viola Brasil by violist Tatjana Mead Chamis, and Paul JUON: Chamber Music for Viola by violist Basil Vendryes.

Viola Brasil Tatjana Mead Chamis, viola André Mehmari, piano/composer

Luiz Gustavo Zago, piano Carlos Ribeiro Junior, bass Mauro Borghezan, drums Rodrigo Ojeda, piano Flavio Chamis, composer

On Viola Brasil, Tatjana Mead Chamis gifts her listeners with fiery performances of works by three Brazilian composers: André Mehmari, Flavio Chamis, and Francesco Mignone. This disc was partially inspired by Mead Chamis’s 2012 sabbatical from her position with the Pittsburgh Symphony, which was spent living and performing on the island of Florianopolis in Brazil. Filled with premier recordings of pieces dedicated to the performer, this CD offers us the chance to hear exciting and extremely well-crafted new additions the viola repertoire. The virtuosic left-hand technique and innate sense of rhythm that Chamis displays throughout this recording shows that the viola truly shines in contemporary Latin/Brazilian music, so much so that The Sonata for Viola and Piano by André Mehmari received a Latin Grammy nomination in 2017 as “Best Classical Contemporary Composition” (the only piece written for viola ever to receive the honor). Personally, I love Flavio Chamis’s Bachiana Brasileira 2.0 . This work, an infectious mashup of baroque suite dance forms played by viola and a jazz trio, marries technical virtuosity with ensemble improvisation.

Debussy | Ravel ABC Classics

Roger Benedict, viola Simon Tedeschi, piano

On Debussy - Ravel , Roger Benedict and pianist Simon Tedeschi deliver gorgeously colorful and stylistic performances of Claude Debussy’s Préludes and Cello Sonata and Maurice Ravel’s Habanera , Kaddisch , and Violin Sonata . Throughout this recording Benedict plays with great nuance and virtuosic control of the bow, bringing a dynamic and hauntingly beautiful tone quality to each composition. Equally impressive as an arranger and performer, this recording features Benedict’s own arrangement/transcription of both Ravel’s Violin Sonata and Debussy’s Cello Sonata . Not only can you order this disc from his website (http://rogerbenedict.com), interested violists can also purchase his transcriptions of these two works. It would be a huge oversight to not note that Simon Tedeschi offers a striking solo performance of Ravel’s Sonatine .

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring 2023