Andreas Baksa, whose Viola Pannonica is featured, was born in Romania near the Hungarian border and was a pupil of István Nagy, a friend of Bartók and student of Jenö Hubay.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Andreas Baksa aimed to write music for both educated musicians and the general listener, balancing consonance and dissonance while maintaining the joy of playing and listening.
Instruments
Herbert Kefer performs on a J.B. Guadagnini viola from 1784, which is part of the collection of the Austrian National Bank.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in June 2015 at Montforthaus Feldkirch, with Martin Kerschbaum as producer and Gustav Soral as engineer.
Composition History
Andreas Baksa's Viola Pannonica was a commissioned work for the Weinklang Festival and premiered on May 12, 2010, with Herbert Kefer as soloist.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Max Bruch, whose Romanze is on this album, aimed to counteract the "unmelodic times" and those who declared melody an "obsolete idea."
Performer Biography
Herbert Kefer, the violist on this recording, co-founded the Artis-Quartett in 1980, which has made over thirty recordings and received awards like the Grand Prix du Disque.
