MUSIC FOR VIOLA AND PIANO

Works by Martinu, Kodály, Dohnányi, Joachim, Enescu

Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola

Anthony Hewitt, piano

The viola works on this recording fuse lyricism with virtuosity, and sometimes invoke folkloric moments as well as more rhapsodic flights. Martinu’s 1955 Sonata plays on elements of folk music and rhapsody, as well as a toccata-like intensity and a pervasive feeling of nostalgia. Kodály’s Adagio is an early work, highly expressive and richly romantic, whilst his compatriot Dohnányi wrote a Sonata of mature distinction, employing variations and transformed themes to magical effect. Joachim, upholder of the German violin school, also composed, and in his Hebrew Melodies crafts great pathos, whilst Enescu’s Concertstück fuses the lyrical with the dashing, as befits a competition test piece.

Martinu’s sonata is often coupled with the Duos or Madrigals in all-Martinu discs. Dohnányi’s sonata is a major work but is very poorly represented in the catalogue. The Enescu and Kodály works are often part of mixed viola recitals, as here, but tend to lack the logic of this compilation which is of “Eastern European” viola works. Joachim’s Hebrew Melodies has been recorded on Claves in a mixed German Romantic viola disc, but its repertoire therefore varies otherwise completely. This disc has the big advantages of a focused geography and two major sonatas.

Since her concerto début with the Philharmonia in 1992, and the Wigmore Hall in 1997, the viola-player Sarah-Jane Bradley has established a distinguished international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician.

Naxos 8572533