Shostakovich defined the opening Moderato of the Viola Sonata enigmatically as 'a novella', and it may be a homage to Alban Berg's Violin Concerto.
Annette Bartholdy, the violist on this recording, is a winner of many international competitions and plays a fine Balestrieri Viola of 1767.
The Viola Sonata was created with the dedicatee, Fyodr Druzhinin, principal viola in the Beethoven Quartet, witnessing its painful creation.
The finale of the Viola Sonata is an 'adagio in memory of Beethoven', subtly referencing the C minor first movement of the 'Moonlight' Sonata.
This album features the world première recording of Annette Bartholdy's arrangement of Shostakovich's Cello Sonata for viola.
Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, completed just before his death on August 9, 1975, is considered his swan-song.
The middle movement of Shostakovich's Viola Sonata extensively uses music from his abandoned opera The Gamblers, based on a Gogol play.
