Antoine Tamestit reviews
Brahms: Sonatas, Op. 120, etc
Antoine Tamestit (viola), Cédric Tiberghien (piano), et al (Harmonia Mundi)
Schoenberg: Violin Concerto; Verklärte Nacht
Isabelle Faust (violin), et al; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding (Harmonia Mundi)
Widmann's 'bold and brilliant' new viola concerto
The cover is eye-catching: viola player Antoine Tamestit caught mid-scream, mouth wide open. There is a musical point to the image too. In Jörg Widmann’s 2015 Viola Concerto, written for Tamestit, the soloist becomes a theatrical figure who roams around the orchestra, leaving the usual spot near the conductor. And Widmann, actually a clarinettist by training, fully exploits the viola’s capabilities. Extended techniques – waving the bow through the air, tapping the wood, and yes, even shouting – turn the viola into a one-man-band.