Benedetto Marcello, a contemporary of Vivaldi, was a lawyer who served for 14 years on Venice's Council of Forty, effectively its supreme court of justice.
Instruments
The 'Gibson' Stradivari viola was the last viola Antonio Stradivari, then ninety years old, ever made.
Composition History
Dmitri Shostakovich's Viola Sonata op. 147 was his final completed composition, written while he was terminally ill.
Compositional Technique
Shostakovich's Viola Sonata op. 147 includes musical quotations from works by Berg, Stravinsky, his own opera, and Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata, serving as a retrospective on his life and music.
Instruments
The 'Gibson' Stradivari viola, made in 1734, is one of only nine violas by Antonio Stradivari that have survived worldwide, making it exceptionally valuable.
Recording & Production
This album features the world-premiere recording of George Alfred Gibson's arrangement of Benedetto Marcello's Sonata no. 6 in G major for viola and piano.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite its dark appearance, Shostakovich reportedly said that his Viola Sonata op. 147, his final work, was 'bright, light and clear'.
