Virtuoso Viola Concertos (Wolfram Christ) [1994]

J.Ch. Bach - Concerto For Viola And Strings In C Minor
1. I. Allegro molto ma maestoso
2. II. Adagio molto espressivo
3. III. Allegro molto energico
Michael Haydn - Concerto For Viola, Harpsichord And Strings In C Major
4. I. Allegro moderato
5. II. Adagio
6. III. Prestissimo
Carl Stamitz - Concerto For Viola And Orchestra In C Major
7. I. Allegro
8. II. Andante moderato
9. III. Rondo allegretto
10. M.Haydn - Variations In C Major For Piano (P132) - Poco Allegro

Wolfram Christ – viola
Roswitha Trimborn – harpsichord

Cologne Chamber Orchestra
Helmut Müller-Brühl – conductor

Wolfram Christ is one of the very few viola players to enjoy international fame as a soloist. Recently retired as the Principal Viola of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wolfram Christ has just accepted an appointment as Professor of Viola at the Hochschule fur Musik in Freiberg. He has also held the post of Visiting Professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music since 1995 and is currently in Sydney preparing the Conservatorium's Chamber Orchestra for a tour. --- abc.net.au

Wolfram Christ can be a boring performer (witness a deadpan Berlioz Harold in Italy with Maazel), but these works seem to suit him perfectly.

The J.C. Bach Concerto (is *that* really J.C. Bach???) is quite splashy, especially witness the final movement. It's very exciting, and definitely worth exploring, with a tuneful first movement, and a lovely second. The first theme of I comes back to haunt in III, making it a "cyclical" work.

The Stamitz is well known to any violist, and is a very rewarding concerto, regardless of the instrumentation.

One reviewer stated that these works are not "virtuosic". That's a judgment made from the twentieth (twenty-first!) century: in their time, these works were considered to be very much the fare of virtuosos. The attitude that only modern or romantic works can be virtuosic (vis-a-vis the viola literature) miss the point. In any case, even music without lots of notes or string crossing, double stops, etc., is MUCH harder to perform; witness Mozart, where so many performers spin notes but don't make music. Conversely, virtuosic affairs by Sarasate or Paganini may have all of the fireworks, but no soul--the performer only need play all the notes. --- Gregory M. Zinkl, amazon.com

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