Nai-Yueh Chang, the violist on this album, is a Taiwanese musician who won the National String Competition in Taiwan and completed her Artist Diploma at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in just six years.
Album & Artwork
The album's cover painting is titled 'Firebird' by Veronica Nikolskaya.
Composition History
Mikhail Kollontay's Viola Concerto was written after his classmate Yuri Bashmet, a famous violist, suggested he compose a viola concerto for him to play.
Compositional Technique
For his Viola Concerto, Mikhail Kollontay deliberately mixed techniques from light entertainment music with Russian church melodies, and used an orchestra with almost no woodwinds, but included 'secondary' voices like piano, tenor saxophone, tuba, and celesta.
Recording & Production
The album features two concertos by Mikhail Kollontay: a Viola Concerto recorded in 2015 and a Piano Concerto recorded in 2018.
Composer Biography
Mikhail Kollontay, the composer, is a Russian composer and pianist born in Moscow in 1952, who has been a professor of piano at Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan since 2003.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mikhail Kollontay's artistic style was significantly influenced by Russian Church music, liturgical reading traditions, early Russian singing culture, and folklore, contributing to his unique modal and free compositional thinking.
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