Romantic Viola Sonatas

Featuring

Hiyoli Togawa
Lilit Grigoryan
George Onslow
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda

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Historical Context

The viola has largely gone unnoticed on concert stages, even more so than the double bass, and only partially asserted itself as a solo instrument.

Composer Biography

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a phenomenal child prodigy, completing his first six String Symphonies as an eleven-year-old and mastering technical difficulties by age thirteen.

Instruments

Hiyoli Togawa, the violist on this album, plays an instrument made by Paolo Antonio Testore from Milan in 1749, as an award winner of the Deutscher Musikinstrumenten-fonds.

Composition History

Mendelssohn completed his Viola Sonata in C minor in February 1824, just a month and a half before finishing his Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Georges Onslow, a composer of French and English descent, had a ruling passion for chamber music, which was considered exotic in France at the time.

Critical Reception

Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda, a respected and popular composer until middle age, saw his fame fade after the 1840s, only to have his works unexpectedly return to favor in recent years.

Recording & Production

This recording was made possible thanks to sponsorship from the non-profit Funk Stiftung, which supports cultural projects focusing on neglected classical works.