Category Archives: Recensies

IVC Paris blog – Day 5

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 5: Friday, January 23rd, 2026
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The last day of the Congress was upon us, with the Opéra Bastille serving as the main venue. It started out with the pre-dress rehearsal for the Raiders of the Lost Tone project, where all the bits and pieces were starting to fuse into a greater whole. Still, many (especially in the orchestra) were wondering what this really was all about. No worries, Karin assured us, all will become clear in the end!

We remained seated in the auditorium as Carol Rodland stepped onto the stage to give a masterclass for two selected students, who had brought sonatas by Brahms and César Franck. Rodland’s interventions were very clear and effective, delivered with a lively mix of directness and humour. Thanks to the qualities of the two students as well, the two hours long class held the attention of the quite sizeable audience.

After grabbing a few quick baguettes for lunch at a nearby sandwich shop, we ran back to the Opéra to witness two presentations centered on the viola d’amore. Pierre-Henri Xuereb‘s recital “Connections betwen the Viola d’Amore and the Viola Through the Centuries” included various combinations of these two instruments: Duos by Stamitz and Muisant, a trio with cello by Haydn, and finally the Pavane and Laideronnette from Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye, arranged for viola, viola d’amore and the old Chinese guqin (pictured above).

Former IVS president Carlos Maria Solare then gave a lecture called The viola d’amore at the Belle Époque: Renaissance or Continuity? It started out with a quite entertaining review of various viola d’amore models and their particularities. Unfortunately we had to leave rather early for the mandatory final dress rehearsal and performance of Raiders of the Lost Tone, so I cannot really sum up his points.

I won’t bore you with the details of the dress rehearsal, instead I’ll leap straight to the point: The premiere (and probably also last, alas) performance of Karin Dolman‘s viola epic Raiders of the Lost Tone in the Opera Bastille Amphitheatre was a real Happening, radiating Karin’s enormous devotion to the viola cause and the viola community, while reflecting also her unstoppable creativity.

Indeed, it all became clear in the end, after the viking bandits, the princesses, the babbling bureaucrats, the singing violist, the IVS Board, and the three adventurous protagonists were all gathered on stage – where even the former IVC Hosts (see Day 2) were surprised find themselves part of the play action, lined up to receive “medals of appreciation” (hand made ceramics from Karin’s pottery).

We weren’t allowed to bask too long in this beautiful moment however, because the next act was already waiting in the wings: The final evening recital and hence very last musical event on the official IVC programme.

The opening act consisted of the première of the commissioned work Rast by composer Benoit Sitzia, performed by the Norwegian-Lithuanian “singing violist” Povilas Syrrist-Gelgota. I quote from the composer’s program notes: “A prayer for the balance of our world, a prayer for peace, a prayer that rises like a song, toward the upper octave of our humanity“. Clearly Povilas was a perfect fit to present this supplication on our behalf to the powers that be.

Next, Jennifer Stumm and her Illumina Ensemble played a memorable finale, aptly titled “The End”, referring (in the minds of many) also to the looming geopolitical collapse of assumptions regarding alliances, trust and lawfulness (these very values lay in the balance at the World Economic Forum summit meeting in Davos this week). The gripping epitomy of such an “End” was instantiated by the arrangement of the beautiful Adagio from the Shostakovich viola sonata op. 147 (his “swan song”), where we drift into infinity, carried by fragmented wavelets from Beethoven’s immortal Moonlight sonata. Fortunately the program had its lighter sides as well, with optimistic Brazilian life forces. What an incredibly appropriate and intimate ending to such a huge congress! 

Time to celebrate – with a Gala Dinner at La Compagnie 1837, a restaurant in the big complex of buildings around Gare St. Lazare. The hard-working 50th congress team led by Françoise Gneri was duly thanked and applauded, and honorary awards were given to the French viola great Gérard Caussé and former IVS president Carlos Maria Solare, who is retiring from the IVS board after more than a decade of service. Last but not least, DVS founding president and honorary member Karin Dolman was awarded the IVS Silver Alto Clef!

In line with tradition, at this point the next (51st) IVC was announced: it will take place from September 20th-24th 2027 on Tenerife, hosted by Macarena Pesutic. Above you find the invitational video, which was shown at the closing ceremony in Paris.

Sadly, the dinner itself was a bit of an anticlimax. Something must have gone very wrong with the supply chain, as most guests had to do with a piece of French bread with some cheese and a leaf of lettuce – if they were lucky. But this disappointment was largely washed away with plenty of bubbly drinks, as the hundreds of violists present were determined not to let this ruin their last evening together. Garth Knox himself kept the party going with swinging Irish folk music that irresistibly invited to dance, and so we did.

See you in September 2027, on an exotic island in the Atlantic!

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Paris blog – Day 4

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 4: Thursday, January 22nd, 2026
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During these IVC congresses with such a wide-spanning mix of local and international contributions, one of the things I’ve really come to appreciate is the opportunity to try new things. So at the outset of this 4th day of the Paris Congress, we checked in with Anne Caloustian (aka. Graine de Perle) for her workshop called “The body… a Tuning Fork“. Approaching this with an open mind, it was not difficult to follow her lead in a session that featured a series of meditative body balancing / relaxation combined with breathing and resonance exercises, all in her own very personal blend and perspective. With such a busy day ahead, this warming-up felt very worthwhile.

The annual IVS Delegates’ Meeting was held this morning, with a couple of key decisions to be made. Firstly to confirm the results of the IVS board elections from last month – this resulted in the following officer changes:

  • Karin Dolman will take over as IVS president as of this week, and her predecessor Jutta Puchhammer assumes the board role of Former President;
  • Ames Asbell becomes IVS Vice President (the post formerly held by Karin)
  • Sherry Grant will be the new IVS Secretary, taking over from Raquel Bastos

IVS Treasurer Emlyn Stam presented a proposal regarding the minimum Dues to be paid to the IVS by member sections. This minimum amount will from now on be calculated based on each country’s UN HDI (Human Development Index) rating, which ensures a more fair approach to determining the minimum amounts due. This change to the IVS Bylaws was approved unanimously.

The admission of Colombia as a new member section – represented in Paris by Astrid Jerez – was unanimously approved. It was also encouraging to hear that developments are underway to establish a viola society in Austria.

There was a general brainstorm about the evolving role of the IVS. Proposals were fielded for the IVS to act as a hub for international sponsorship deals that could benefit all sections. The IVS is also considering to act as a hub for cooperative efforts in areas where individual member sections are facing problems of scale with international overlaps, such as for example promoting centralized information about viola days, masterclasses and summer courses.

Back in the CNSMDP, I rejoined the “regular” congress programming with Giulio Baraldi‘s lecture on the origins of Max Bruch’s famous Romance (op.85) for viola. Baraldi had been in touch with Jean-Claude Vieux (1944-2019), the son of the famous violist and pedagogue Maurice Vieux (who taught at the Conservatory in Paris). The younger Vieux donated a collection of his father’s personal items to Baraldi, including a letter to Vieux from Max Bruch, in which he proposes to write an Adagio for viola and orchestra. This link between Bruch and Vieux was previously not known, and it seems to explain why Bruch dedicated the Romance to him, although Vieux did not premiere it himself.

From Bruch we moved on to Beethoven: Eric Wong (Vanderbilt University) presented his own transcriptions of Beethoven’s violin sonatas. I found it easy to align with his thesis “that this music transcends instrumentation and shines on the viola“! In particular I enjoyed the movement he played from the very familiar Kreutzer sonata (no.9, op.47), one of my favourites from my somewhat sidetracked path as an amateur violinist. Fortunately the keys are left intact, so the original piano scores remain applicable. The viola parts are said to be available on request, contact prof. Wong through his website.

Ames Asbell (Texas State University) followed with a lecture-recital on compositions for the viola by US composer Alvin Derald Etler (1913-1973). While he was an oboe player himself (not a violist), Etler had notably studied with Paul Hindemith during the war (among others), and wrote a number of chamber music pieces for woodwind ensembles combined with a viola as the sole string player. Two examples from Etler’s oeuvre were performed, his Duo for Oboe and Viola (with Ian Davidson on the oboe) and Sonata for Viola and Harpsichord (with Michelle Schumann), both exhibiting interesting and unusual styles given the period of their composition (1950’s).

A very logical next item on the programme was a recital with duos for viola and bassoon, played by Melissa Meléndez (Venezuela) and Scott Pool (USA). Sadly, this is yet another rare viola+1 combination with an accordingly limited (and/or unknown) repertoire. The bundle Huite Duos (1995) by Philippe Hersant is apparently among the best-known works, to the effect that those pieces were also on the programme at a similar viola-bassoon recital at the 2017 congress in Wellington (by two different players). The Meléndez/Pool duo also played Nuages de Feu by Alexandre Ouzounoff and Three Short Stories by Austrian-American composer Gernot Wolfgang – from which I concluded that we could use (a lot!) more of this. How about a composition contest, co-sponsored by the IVS and the IDRS (International Double Reed Society)?

After a quick coffee break we moved to the magnificent CNSMDP Salle d’Orgue, where Karine Lethiec gave a recital on contemporary French solo viola music. Building forth on the ideas that inspired her MUSICoMAN project (presented at the 2024 congress in Campinas), these were “works that question the origin of the creative musical gesture and propose to link it to its roots, to the most distant artistic gesture“. This exploration into the very distant past (and its archaeological relics) is clearly a very productive source of musical ideas!

Now Emlyn Stam and the New European Ensemble (NEuE) took the stage to give the international premiere performance of Martijn Padding’s viola concerto Ma vie en couleurs (2025). The actual world premiere took place on “home turf” (Netherlands) last year, but I felt that the concerto had grown both on the ensemble and me for this second outing. The composer himself was present in Paris, and both the performance and composition received loud acclaim.

This quite busy programme left us hungry, but we couldn’t eat just yet – first maestro Dolman summoned all available violas for a full-hour orchestra rehearsal / walk-through of the Raiders project, which will (hopefully) be one of the highlights tomorrow. The subsequently highly urgent feeding session took place at a reasonable-looking pasta & pizza restaurant near our apartment downtown. No rest for the wicked, so back we went to the CNSAD Theatre (fortunately at this point only 100m away) to catch …

… yes, Kim Kashkashian‘s much-anticipated evening recital! Garth Knox joined her in two sets of Bartók duos, while she filled in the rest with Unknow Pieces (sic) for solo viola by Kurtág – unfortunately I did not get my hands on any program notes, so it is not clear what was meant by this, even if the title had been a typo and “unknown” had been Kashkashian’s original assessment of their status. As for Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages, these are of course by now a very familiar and frequently-programmed title.

I crashed on my bed much earlier than usual, this was an intense day, and tomorrow we have to be up really early for our rehearsals at the Opera Bastille!

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Paris blog – Day 3

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 3: Wednesday, January 21st, 2026
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Today the epicentre of this congress shifted from the downtown CNSAD conservatory to a more remote site, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP for “short”, pictured above), which is the main music conservatory of Paris situated in the North-Eastern part of town, flanking the Cité de la Musique, where the new Philharmonie de Paris is also located.

This morning’s Viola Orchestra rehearsal was cancelled due to the overwhelming interest in the masterclasses of Tabea Zimmermann and Kim Kashkashian, which took place simultaneously. We did not attend either of these, but headed straight for the session “Engaged Music” in the Ravel studio.

Here, the first recital was “Paradise Lost, Voices Rising: Music and Poetry from Ukraine and Taiwan” by the duo Alto Nova (Emlyn Stam and pianist Sherry Grant). The world première arrangement of Valentin Silvestrov’s Kitsch Music , originally conceived in a very different era (1977), acquired a glow of its own against today’s backdrop of the Ukrainian war. The premiere arrangement of Fu Tong Wong’s “Taiwanese Aboriginal Suite” brought to mind the threat against this island and its native culture.

Seamlessly extending this program, the Taiwan Radiant Ensemble (Shu-Ching Hsu, viola; Sabina Shu-Chun Chiang, flute, and Chao-Pei Chen, harp) brought a recital with the title “Tides of Memory: Music Echoing Taiwan’s Historical Silence“, premiering three Taiwanese female composers’ works written for this ensemble. The program is said to “explore Taiwan’s cultural pluralism and its dialogue with France’s ideals of liberty and unity“. Some of this pluralism we were already fortunate to glimpse at the 2023 IVC in Thailand, where Hsu performed with a Taiwanese viola quartet. These new compositions were very satisfying, and add nicely to the already above-average repertoire for flute-viola-harp trio.

The next session I attended was themed “Eastern Europe”, featuring two recitals from Poland. First, in “Poland meets Chile”, Wojciech Kolaczyk and Carola Fredes played viola duos from Poland and Chile, celebrating the emerging (albeit long-distance) intercultural union of these two countries. Their performance was enthusiastically received. Concluding the Polish recital, prof. Boguslawa Hubisz-Sielska (founder of the Polish Viola Society and twice IVC host) made an impression with the piece “Farewell” by Marcel Chyrzynski (originally for cello and piano). I had to miss her rendition of the Preludia taneczne by Lutoslawski, as a compromise was required to catch the next event at the CNSAD downtown.That event was the recital of prof. Pauline Sachse‘s Viola class from Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HMT) Leipzig, the oldest university conservatory in Germany, founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn. Prof. Sachse had composed or arranged all the pieces in this programme. Appropriately, they started out with the arguably most famous Leipzig citizen, Johann Sebastian Bach. The “Goldberg variations” have already been popular for some time in a string trio arrangement, but here prof. Sachse had re-arranged it for three violas, reaching much farther toward abstractions and extended techniques than its string trio counterpart. This was a true joy to hear, I sincerely hope this version will be published some day!

Another fun surprise was the arrangement of the 3rd movement of Schumann’s Märchenbilder for viola quartet (!). It could be argued that it is easier when the four players get to share the strenuous fast triplets, alternating every few bars. But that instead creates a challenge at the handover points, to avoid disruption of the flow.

Three students (Momoka Okada, Sophie Kiening and Gesine Hadulla) performed solo works written by prof. Sachse. I enjoyed most the piece “Hidden spaces“, which was an obvious big nod to Garth Knox, but had its own ideas as well. Finally the whole class took the stage in a celebratory “Dance” for 8 violas, with entertaining dialogues and catchy rhythms.

Time for the evening programme, which in our self-inflicted itinerary meant catching 3 concerts in about 5 hours on two different sites.

We first convened in the CNSAD main theatre, for a concert designed and performed by featured artist Garth Knox. He played two of his own solo compositions (New Spaces and Three Little Entropies), evocating curiosity and humour like only he can. He was then joined by none other than Kim Kashkashian in duos by Luciano Berio and himself. This first part of the concert conluded with pieces by Erik Satie, arranged for two violas and cello.

After a brief intermission, Knox stayed (mostly) off-stage during the premiere of his commissioned work The Ancient Mariner, featuring Lawrence Power as soloist with  the Ostinato string orchestra. This was a dramatic piece, where the orchestra also served as the ship’s crew, sailing this way and that, while the soloist struggled with curses thrust upon him (a dead albatross – please don’t ask me to explain the plot!). Anyway this concert remains one of my most vivid impressions from this congress.

As much as we would have loved to stay and shout for encores, as soon as the applause swelled up, we had to run off to catch our appointment at Paris’ splendid new concert hall (opened in 2015), the Philharmonie de Paris, where Tim Ridout and Lorenza Borrani were playing their hearts out in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. What a joy to hear Ridout, and Borrani was certainly a good match and a pleasant new discovery for me. Oddly enough, this exquisite concert was not part of the official IVC programme, although I think it may originally have been intended as such. The original announcement of the congress also alluded to hosting events at the Philharmonie, but in the end it seems this one fell off the wagon.

Continuing our cherry-picking tour through the musical landscape of Paris this evening, we left the Philharmonie behind as soon as Ridout had left the stage, rushing back to CNSAD to catch whatever might be left of IVC featured artist Tatjana Masurenko‘s recital. We were in luck, because her recital had been delayed, so we arrived just before the intermission, which was around 21:45h. And it became clear immediately how she set and owned the stage. It starts with her appearance, the fiery red hair and the cape. The chocolate textured viola sound with a red hot core.

Her monumental performance of Rachmaninov’s one and only cello sonata had the late-night audience swoon. I literally heard sighs all around me as the final chord sounded off. In this day and age we’re conditioned to be cynical about any degree of romanticism beyond Netflix Christmas movies, but here it was: All or nothing. She conquered. I think I needn’t say more. Goodnight children, more tomorrow!

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Salaya Blog – Day 4

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The 48th International Viola Congress took place in Salaya, Thailand from June 6th – 10th, 2023. With a significant delay due to extreme workloads both professionally and privately, this final installment of the IVC Salaya blog is delivered to you (more than 2.5 years late!) by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 4: Friday, June 9th, 2023
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There’s nothing as beautiful as Second Chances. For example, this Friday morning’s 2nd chance to experience Nehir Akansu‘s IMPROVIOLA JAZZ workshop. Only trouble is, it started practically in the middle of the night (8.30am) … some of us managed, and judging by the pictures they sent me, it was lots of fun!

A gem of a lecture was given by Dorotea Vismara, with the somewhat mystifying title “Who is afraid of the Older Violist“? While it was initially pointed out that “oldness” is a relative quality that cannot be directly implied by calendar age, Vismara anyway went on to list various physical, psychological and social challenges that at least tend to increase with age. Muscular issues, balance, stamina, hearing and eyesight; mental agility to learn new music and embrace new insights, stage fright arising from bad experiences, social pressure. It all accumulates over time, and the “older” violist would be the one who is more troubled by the sum of these issues.

In preparation for this lecture, Vismara interviewed the famous Italian violist Bruno Giuranna, who recently turned 90 years old, but who is still teaching and performing. It was pointed out that specific technical exercises and yoga could slow down some of the negative physical aging effects. DVS secretary Ursula Skaug, one of Giuranna’s students, briefly demonstrated some of his left-hand gymnastics,

At this point, Vismara turned to explore external factors: The world around us is continuously changing. The disruptive effects of societal changes, migration, wars and political upheavals (e.g. various “cultural revolutions” around the world) influence how and what we learn, play, and teach on the viola. The current standard repertoire of Walton, Bartók and Hindemith concertos was mostly unknown in Vismara’s native Italy, even in the mid-1970s. It takes a concerted effort for “older” violists to keep up with developments, in the broadest sense. Editorial note: Let this be a warning for today’s student generation. And of course, attending IVC congresses is one really great way to ensure you’re updated!

Next, a recital with the appealing title “Sound Images from Formosa” was brought by the Taiwanese delegation. In particular I was fascinated by the piece ‘Tâi-uân’ for viola quartet, written by Yi-Cheng Chiang for, and premiered at, this very occasion. Performed by the Radiant Ensemble (Ming-Li Wu, Shu-Ching Hsu, Yvonne Yung-Hwa Liu and Chia-Hsin Chang)i, this composition was inspired by indigenous music from Taiwan.

The Taiwanese government recognizes 16 groups of indigenous Taiwanese aborigines, and the most famous music in these cultures is the Bunun Pasibutbut, a rich male polyphonic choir tradition that I found oddly similar to male choir traditions from Sardinia (Italy): Inward-turned circles of singers with crossed arms, exploiting microtonal shifts and overtone effects… did these two traditions arise completely independently of each other, or did some cultural migration event play a role, unlikely as it may seem over such a distance?

In the part “Thâu”, the violas were equipped with what I at first thought was an advanced acoustic device to achieve special sound effects, especially when plucking the strings.

I had a chat with the ensemble players later, revealing that this “advanced device” was nothing more than a regular plastic hairpin clipped onto the string. So cool! Furthermore, the score for this piece had hardly any pitch indications, it should not be ‘in tune’ according to the composer. This listening experience along with the unexpected cultural learning made me extremely enthusiastic, it felt like this one session alone had justified the investment to come to this congress.

After lunch, the MACM stage was set for a concert with Mahidol (University) Symphony Orchestra. First out, Patcharaphan Khumprakob (whom we heard playing the Rebecca Clarke sonata on Day 2) was the soloist in the Bartók concerto. Well done!

Nevertheless, ms. Khumprakob and mr. Bartók will have to forgive me for saying that the hands-down highlight of this particular afternoon concert was the subsequent world premiere of Marco Anzoletti’s (1867-1929) viola concerto no. 1 in f minor. The composer originally wrote this concerto in 1900 with a piano reduction only, so Ken Martinson (of Gems Music Publications) took it upon him to create and publish an orchestral score from that. Since Anzoletti didn’t leave too many hints of the conceptual orchestration, Martinson had significant freedom of choice, and made use of it to give us some delightful surprises such as celesta solo’s to cool down the hotly temperamental music (Brahms on steroids), and a concertino group of double bass and celli to open the 2nd movement.

Virtuoso viola soloist Marco Misciagna gave this concerto all the passion and brilliance it demanded, and threw in a stunning self-written cadenza (in authentic Misciagna style!). The performance was very much appreciated by the audience, to put it mildly. And yet another great example of why Viola Congresses are worth organizing and attending. You can now see the entire premiere performance in this YouTube recording made by the score publisher.

 

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IVC Paris blog – Day 2

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 2: Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
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Browsing through the Congress programme booklet during breakfast on this 2nd day, it dawned upon me how many difficult choices I’d have to make. So many interesting and must-see events! The programme booklet offered to help, with a chapter called “What kind of congress attendee are you?” …

This chapter provided a questionnaire that was designed to lead you to a track suitable for “your type”, which could be e.g. “The Engaged Explorer”, “The Experience Collector”, “The Guardian of Memory” and so on. A very nice idea (applause for whoever came up with it!), given the numerous options. But unfortunately my tastes were too varied, so this did not help to draft up a personal “itinerary”, even just for today, and desperation grew as my wishlist ballooned. I even missed most of the morning sessions, paralyzed by indecision. In the end we chose the pragmatic solution of just walking down to the nearest metro station (Bonne Nouvelle) to buy ourselves week passes, so that transportation at least would not become an issue.

We then bit the bullet and headed for what promised to be an interesting programme at the Conservatoire municipal Nadia et Lili Boulanger – 9me arrondissement (for short CMA9), at some 10 minutes’ brisk walking distance from the CNSAD main venue.

Starting with core viola topics: Nitya Isoard‘s deep-dive lecture explored Hindemith’s musical language, offering new insights into his compositions. Taking examples from the 1937 solo viola sonata, she demonstrated some of Hindemith’s characteristic use of the sonata form, counterpoint, rhythm, tonal language, dynamics, ornamentation and so on. This was truly for the connoisseurs, and although I have heard this particular sonata several times, a few listening examples along with the shown score fragments might have helped my ability to follow. Nevertheless the bits I did manage to swallow in real time were interesting enough.

Moving on to Brahms, Paul Silverthorne presented his first-hand experiences from researching and playing the viola / clarinet sonatas op.120. Side-by-side comparisons of the manuscript, viola and clarinet versions would reveal how the sonata originally had passages that were technically overdemanding for clarinet (e.g. breath-wise), yet relatively playable on the viola. Also the draft manuscript of Wilhelm Kupfler’s viola adaptations (with annotations from Brahms) shows some deviations (e.g. octave choices) which were approved by Brahms but have since been “lost” in the published parts. Some of these variant fragments were performed by Silverthorne. Although the story of Brahms’ seminal encounter with clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld is well documented, these oddities do leave some space for viola conspiracy theories about the originally intended instrument.

The third composer in focus this afternoon in CMA9 was Berlioz. Luca Trombetta presented the lecture “The Humor of Harold in Italy: Navigating Comic Irony from Score to Stage“, based on his cooperation on this topic with musicologist Marianna Ritchey. The key thesis seemed to be that one could “re-imagine” the narrative of Harold as bathed in irony rather than heroic romanticism. The supporting arguments included autobiographical aspects from Berlioz’ life, as well as a proposed tendency of French Romantic authors to lean heavily on irony, thereby superimposing comedy upon tragedy. Both arguments were supported by Ritchey’s research on the writer Théophile Gautier (1811-1872), who knew and even collaborated artistically with Berlioz. A fitting example was identified in Gautier’s short story “Onuphrius” (published in 1833, one year before Berlioz premiered his “viola concerto”), in which the anti-heroic protagonist exhibits striking analogies to Harold. Trombetta even ventured to characterize the relationship between Berlioz and Gautier as “A 19th-Century Bromance“. 🙂

We stayed put in the CMA9 auditorium to hear Dutch violist Anna Jurriaanse‘s recital titled “The Composers in my Life“, consisting of solo miniatures written for her by composers from all over the world. In the list of names, I recognized Dutch composers Amarante Nat, Joshua Herwig and Kaja Majoor. It proved to include highly varied and surprising ideas to exploit the possibilities of the viola in contemporary music idioms.

Sadly before Anna’s recital was over, I had to rush back to the CNSAD main venue to participate in a roundtable discussion with fellow former IVC hosts in the beautiful theater hall, reflecting on the challenges and impacts of organizing such congresses, and perspectives for the future. IVS Treasurer Emlyn Stam moderated this session, and IVS president-elect Karin Dolman had prepared a short film to introduce the topic(s), which you can see here (YouTube):

The most senior congress hosts present were Marcus Thompson (13th IVC, Boston 1985) and Peter Slowik (21st IVC, Evanston 1993). It was certainly somewhat thrilling to sit in the descending line from these “congress pioneers” on stage, along with many others that i have met through the years. I don’t think there have ever been this many – 14 in all – former IVC hosts together on a stage. This very unusual reunion was celebrated with cake & bubbles afterward :-).

I had high hopes for Frédéric Lainé‘s lecture “Viola Players in France from Casimir-Ney to Théophile Laforge (1850-1918)“, eyeing an opportunity to learn some local history. However, the lecture was held in French, with real-time audio-to-text translation through Google projected on the screen. The print was too small to read comfortably, and the translation was continually reworked as each sentence progressed, so it was simply too hard to follow. I should have spent more time reheating my school French! I was told we could probably get a printed copy of the manuscript later, on request. The musical examples performed by Jean Sautereau were anyway enjoyable.

Finally then, the evening concert with featured artist Tabea Zimmermann in the splendid Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She played Kurtág’s “Movement for viola and orchestra” with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, conducted by Gábor Káli. This was a big treat, a rarely performed piece. She followed up with a selection from Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages. You could tell from the exuberant applause that the concert hall was full of viola fans :-).

All in all a day packed with events, and I felt pleasantly tired. So instead of hunting for a reasonably-priced beer, I decided to go back to my room in order to plan tomorrow’s itinerary carefully, so as to avoid another choice-overload anxiety attack similar to this morning’s.

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Paris blog – Day 1

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 1: Monday, January 19th, 2026
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It is no exaggeration to say that the viola world had been looking forward to this special 50th International Viola Congress in Paris. A spectacular lineup of featured artists and a programme counting some 200 events awaited us, and violists from all around the planet eagerly booked travel and tickets to enjoy every millisecond of it. I went there with my wife and daughter, along with many other Dutch viola friends.  Already at 8am on the first day, a long line of congress participants formed outside the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique (CNSAD for short). This was only one of some 7 different locations throughout the city where congress events would take place, but it was the main venue for the first couple of days.

The host team of the Société Française de l’Alto seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of participants and events that had to be handled. The internal logistics on the site were challenging, for example connecting two adjacent facilities (the main Theatre and the smaller recital halls) in creative ways, including (to my amusement) main crowd passages through the bathrooms on two floors.

Unfortunately I had made a wrong bet on the timing of the opening ceremony, so I missed these formalities as my train from Rotterdam arrived too late. But I made it past the registration desk on time to attend the first rehearsal of the Viola orchestra at 10:30. Here Karin Dolman was laying the orchestral groundwork for her musical theatre piece Raiders of the Lost Tone. Some 100 violists attended this first rehearsal, filling the room to the brim. Whew, what a start!

The lunch break was spent admiring the displays of violas in the designated luthérie rooms, and trying to greet as many old friends as possible. But there were so many people, all heading to different sites at all times. That’s the price one has to pay when a viola congress becomes really successful – in fact, in the case of several viola friends, I only learned that they had been present when their jubilant social media posts started appearing after the congress!

After lunch, I found myself a comfy seat in the main CNSAD theatre, an amazing old concert hall (see picture at the top of this post) where Berlioz in his time had premiered Harold en Italie (!). Under the chosen session title “Arabian Tales“, some quite exotic themes awaited us here: First, the MENAT Modern Music Ensemble led by violists Nadine Oussaad and John Stulz brought a programme based on traditional Algerian / Arab music, supported by oud and percussion. I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual combination and the varied style of works.

This was followed by “Two Turkish Violists in Paris“, featuring Beste Tiknaz Modiri and Baris Kerem Bahar with contemporary works – of which many premieres – for 2 violas. It reflected the energetic community that has been built around the Turkish Viola Society, with a significant output of new works for the viola (among other things).

The session was concluded with “The Persian Viola – Viola Music from the Iranian Diaspora“. In collaboration with composer Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei, violists Daphne Gerling and Wendy Richman had put together an eclectic selection from five different exiled Iranian composers. The current violent upheavals in Iran, which were not in the picture when the program was proposed, gave the program an extra poignant feeling.

At this point we needed a break to get checked into our apartment (just around the corner), missing no less than 5 interesting congress events in just one hour. We raced back to catch the two young emerging violists Paul Zientara and Sarah Strohm, for a varied “rotation” recital of Stravinsky, Enescu, Bridge, and Brahms among other things. The quite distinct styles of the two violists brought additional variety to the performance, already so rich in musicality and virtuosity.

After a quick re-heat dinner (leftovers packaged from home) back in the apartment, we once again found ourselves in the CNSAD Theatre for the evening concert with viola superhero Lawrence Power. The hall was packed with people, with long lines of remorseful “late buyers” outside who had to wait for spare seats, if they could get in at all. First I must mention the opening act, in which Odile Auboin premiered Joan Magrané Figuera‘s commissioned piece “Two Meditations for Viola and Harp” (the latter instrument played by Ghislaine Petit-Volta). This was certainly more than just a parenthesis to Power’s concert! Well chosen by the organizing committee.

After the obligatory joke about never having seen so many violists in one place, Power dove straight into the heart of the matter together with his pianist Simon Crawford Philips, making a grand opening statement with York Bowen’s Phantasy in F, op. 54 – one of my favourites from his acclaimed Bowen recordings. This virtuosic piece feels like a roller-coaster, and Power’s performance brought me tears of pure joy. In retrospect one of the absolute highlight moments of the congress!

This was followed by a wonderful selection of pieces by Purcell, Adès, Britten and Turnage. I need to particularly mention the two last pieces: The transcription of Hector Berlioz’ song Death of Ophelia, which was of course a nod to the composer’s strong ties with the hall we were gathered in; and concluding with the popular viola transcription of 8 pieces from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet music.

After his concert, Power was awarded the Silver Alto Clef by IVS President Jutta Puchhammer and president-elect Karin Dolman. So very well deserved!

We took a nightcap at Le Royal Bergère, the official “Viola café” just down the street from CNSAD. They had “happy hour all day” for IVC participants, but in this case that mainly meant the beer was 8 euros instead of 9, so it didn’t get very late.

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Campinas Blog – Day 3

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The 49th International Viola Congress takes place from 17-21 July in Campinas, Brazil. Your intrepid DVS bloggers bring you the daily debrief from the pulsating heart of the viola world.

Day 3 – Friday, July 19th 2024.

A really early start today with a 08:30am Viola Orchestra rehearsal of the new piece “Festa Pra Donatella“, composed by Newton Carneiro for the Congress. Donatella is the name of the composer’s soon-to-be-born daughter. This piece is for 4-part viola ensemble with 2 solo parts, assigned to our very own Ursula and Sunniva! There are significant rhythmical challenges, esp. given the size of the ensemble. The composer therefore conducted this piece himself.

At 10am we followed the lecture “Student-centered teaching and the development of self-regulated learning” by Hella Frank. This “new” learning model is in clear contrast to the classical “Teacher-centered” learning model, where teacher hands out instructions to a passive student that is not expected to provide any inputs. In the Self-Regulated learning model, the student instead has to drive his/her own feedback loop to a point where it becomes continuous learning and improvement. The teacher helps the student to analyse deficiencies and to find solutions, but in a dialogue rather than as a one-way stream of directives. The teacher helps the student clarify his/her goals, and in doing so should strive for a non-controlling approach, always providing multiple options.

Next came a program we certainly had been looking forward to: “New Folk Romantic Music from Norway” with Povilas Syrrist-Gelgota. We first met Povilas at the congress in Thailand last year. He’s a great performer, using his whole body and supplements with an impressive voice that is integrated in his music. By “New Folk Romantic Music” the emphasis is on the first word – these are new compositions (many of them his own), but in a romantic style; for example Vidar Kristensen’s “The Norse Voyager“, which includes some historical perspectives from when the first viking explorers/conquerors sailed deep into the Meditteranean and up the Russian rivers. Entirely unforgettable was “Crazy Horse”, where Marcin Murawski joined him on stage in a kind of rodeo act.

After lunch we visited the lecture “Finding Smooth Pathways Through Viola Literature” by Andrea Houde from West Virginia University – basically concerned with designing a repertoire list (trajectory) for a Bachelor student. Key point was to find a path with a smooth learning curve, tailored to the talents and skill gaps of a student – seeking to avoid traumatizing roadblocks. It’s important to understand the student’s background, starting point and goals/motivations before drawing up this list of coursework.

By simply remaining seated, we went straight to the next session on the program, a talk titled “Some Ideas About Viola Making” with luthier Luis Claudio Manfio from São Paulo. Manfio specializes in building violas (only!), and after having briefly reviewed the classic Italian (Brescia and Cremonese) viola models, he explained the key factors of relevance for violists choosing a viola model: Shape, size, dark/bright sound, dynamic range, clarity/evenness of sound, responsiveness and so on. He then went on to demonstrate how he tackled different challenges and tradeoffs in his viola designs.

Next on my program was the performance “Contrasts and Connections” with the Piedmont duo (Ayn Balija on the viola and I-Jen Fang, percussion) from the University of Virginia. They played a selection of pieces by “underrepresented composers”, but it was not clear (to me) from the program notes in which sense these composers are considered “underrepresented”, as they mostly seem to have (had) quite successful careers in general. But their names (Marco Schirripa, Melanie Farrin, Ney Rosauro and others) are unknown to me, perhaps demonstrating at least that composing for viola and percussion is not your easiest path to gain widespread recognition. I really enjoyed the performance anyway.

Time for some action – in the workshop titled “Language of Choro on Viola” with Luiz Freire and Camila Meirelles. This particular type of Brazilian popular music has been around for almost 200 years, in fact preceding Jazz, but including similar aspects of rhythmic and harmonic improvisation. We learned by group exercise to emulate rhythms and articulations used as the fundament for further improvisation. Good fun, and also a cultural eye-opener for me. It’s stuff like this that justifies travelling 10,000km to go to a viola congress!! Musical styles you have no exposure to at home: if you don’t know it exists and don’t ask for it, you also won’t find it in today’s algorithm-based internet bubbles. It’s rather paradoxical that the Internet hasn’t contributed much to increasing cultural awareness.

In the evening we were transported by bus to the venue of the Gala concert – the Sala Watari. Finally a nice acoustic concert hall with no drone of airco! And a very nice atmosphere it has, too. Principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Tatjana Mead Chamis was this evening’s featured artist. The first half of the program she played together with renowned Brazilian composer/pianist André Mehmari – who composed most of the music on the menu. Most impressive was his Viola Sonata, with the vibrant “Maracatu” – a rhythmic dance from the Northeast of Brazil – forming an exciting backbone of both the first and last movements.

The last part of the concert consisted of “Bachiana Brasileira 2.0” for Solo Viola and Jazz Trio. The title refers to the original suite of pieces written by Heitor Villa-Lobos, combining Brazilian music with Bach. Some of the most famous ones feature the cello prominently, while the viola is at best a tutti supporter in the string orchestra. In this new 2.0 version created by Flavio Chamis, selected movements from Bach’s cello suites (played on the viola) are answered by a jazz trio arrangement with a particular Brazilian flavour, e.g. Prelude – Frevo, Allemande – Samba Canção, Courante – Gaudério Gaucho and ending with a Gigue – Bailão. Lots of fun surprises in the jazz bits!

The musical treat was followed by a gastronomical treat in the form of a Brazilian buffet dinner at Espaço Malbec, a quaint restaurant at the outskirts of Campinas. But before we could eat, there were some traditional ceremonies to be observed. Firstly, the annual “Silver Alto Clef” award. This year it has been awarded to Konrad Ewald, the man behind the invaluable book/catalogue “Musik für Viola” (aka. Music4Viola.info). The IVS Presidency (Jutta and Karin) had personally visited mr. Ewald in his retirement home in Switzerland, and we were now shown the video recording of the award ceremony held there. A resounding and heartfelt “THANK YOU, KONRAD EWALD” was recorded from the IVC crowd which will be transmitted to him.

The next ceremonial task was to duly thank our host Emerson de Biaggi with a proper IVS Certificate of Appreciation, and Karin Dolman received a special token of appreciation from her IVS board colleagues. And last but not least the announcement of the next International Viola Congress, by way of a very impressive “welcome” video by the future hosts: It will be in (… drum roll …) Xi’an, China! from 13th-17th of August 2025. The call for proposals is hereby opened. So make your plans for “Viola army meets the Terracotta Army”!

But first, we’ve got 2 more Congress days to go here in fantastic Campinas!

Kristofer Skaug, DVS

Report from ARD Competition 2023, 4th Round (Finals)

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The prestigious ARD music competition 2023 (ARD Wettbewerb) for Viola is ongoing these days in Munich (D). Karin Dolman reports exclusively for the DVS her personal impressions day-by-day until the Final on Sunday, Sept. 10th.

<previous blog report>

Round 4, Finals (Sept 10th, 2023):

I meet my friends from The Netherlands, now residents of Munich, and we go together to the Finals of the competition, which is held in the “Herkulessaal” of the Residenz, a very noble hall. The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks led by Andrew Grams will accompany the finalists in the Bartók and Walton concertos.

This time there is a program with background information on the final competitors: Ionel Ungureanu, Takehiro Konoe and Haesue Lee. For the Dutch it would be great if Takehiro wins the competition. But it can go in any direction, it depends also on the jury taking the other rounds into consideration.

Ionel Ungureanu was the first to play. He chose the Bartók concerto. He had trouble getting the sluggish sounding orchestra going. The second movement was touching and all the solos in the orchestra were well matched. Here was chemistry. Unfortunately in the last movement he had trouble organizing the orchestra. The public was nevertheless very enthusiastic about Ionel, bit of a “home favourite”.

O wow, Takehiro Konoe’s performance was really amazing. We have to turn off our mobiles so I always make my report after the performance. Takehiro was playing the Walton and the orchestra was ready to play as well! I must say, they did a better job than in the Bartók. Maybe they should have put the Bartók in the middle!

Takehiro’s vibrato, mentioned earlier, is just right, a bit big in amplitude, which helps his sound carry. I am wondering what instrument he plays on. But it is clearly his playing, not the instrument. I am really proud of this performance. In the program it said where he was born and raised in the Netherlands, so our country gets a bit of credit.

Now we return go back to hear the last of the finalists, Haesue Lee! She also plays the Walton concerto! So mobile and really enjoyable! Yes yes, what a performance!!!! For today she was the one who grabbed the audience by the throat!! Her timing was great, she took the lead, not the conductor. I hope a lot of people watched the livestream.

But being here was so great. Now we have to wait for the jury decision. All of the competitors were excellent in their own respects. Ionel is the greatest all-round musician, Takehiro has the best tone and vibrato and my beloved Haesue is the one who stole my heart, already in her Brahms.

Ionel will have a great career, hopefully write a lot of pieces for the viola (maybe the next solo piece for the ARD!!!!) Or for another competition, or play his own pieces like Hindemith did! And Takehiro will be the best ambassador for new music, hopefully with his pianist Meeuwsen.

And the winners are ..: (drum roll)… :

First prize and Audience Prize: Haesue Lee (South Korea)
Shared 3rd prize: Takehiro Konoe (Japan/Netherlands) and Ionel Ungureanu Germany)

The Jury of the 2023 ARD Viola Competition consisted of:

  • Lars Anders Tomter, Chair
  • Steven Ansell
  • Tatjana Masurenko
  • Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot
  • Naoko Shimizu
  • Edward Vanderspar
  • Wen Xiao Cheng

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Note: The competition was Livestreamed on the ARD website, and also on YouTube, where you can go back and listen (if you missed it) and make up your own mind of the performances!

<previous blog report>

Report from ARD Competition 2023, 3rd Round (Semifinals)

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The prestigious ARD music competition 2023 (ARD Wettbewerb) for Viola is ongoing these days in Munich (D). Karin Dolman reports exclusively for the DVS her personal impressions day-by-day until the Final on Sunday, Sept. 10th.

<previous blog report> <next blog report>

Round 3, Semifinals (Sept 8th, 2023):

When I arrived with my ticket to the concert hall it turned out that my seat didn’t exist. I had a ticket for the middle of the hall so I just looked for and found another nice place to sit.

The first candidate of this Semifinal round was Kyungsik Shin. He plays the Hoffmeister concerto with the Kammerorchester vom Bayrischen Rundfunk. The orchestra plays without conductor, which is very interesting. He moves very well and plays with a nice open sound and open strings flageolets. He plays one of the standard cadenzas, which I had hoped would not be the case. Here is an opportunity to present your “business card” to your audience. But on the positive side, Kyungsik is wearing a traditional suit from South Korea.

The second movement was a bit aggressive. But in the third movement, the rondo was very clear and joyful. Communication with the orchestra was good as well.

Njord Kårason Fossnes

Njord Kårason Fossnes played second, and chose the Mozart clarinet concerto. Great opening by the orchestra, especially the horns. They play on natural horns and sound very good in the orchestra. The concerto is more difficult than the Hoffmeister or Stamitz, but it’s all about the style and brightness, and only a perfect performance impresses. Njord is doing a great job to make the concerto more popular in the viola repertoire. But I’m not sure if it fits in a competition. The concerto is also much longer than the two others. In the recapitulation of the first movement he feels more comfortable, and dares to turn to the orchestra more. This concerto is filled with more themes, characters and harmonies than the Hoffmeister. And there are no standard cadenzas, so you have to make your own.

The second movement starts with the viola (I am unconsciously hearing the clarinet) but it suits the viola as well. In the orchestra bits I keep listening to the horns. Njord conducts very well. The rondo has a nice tempo. It can sometimes be played too quickly. He gets a lot of bravos from the audience, so clearly many liked it very much.

Coming on stage with a beautiful red dress is Haesue Lee from South Korea. The dress is well tailored with a touch of a traditional Asian look. She plays Hoffmeister. Her viola is not very bright, but the effort she takes to make it as clear as possible works better than just playing on a bright instrument. Ah, such a pity, again the same cadenza (as Kyungsik Shin). That makes it harder for the jury to judge. On the other hand she plays it with more patience.

The second movement is really exciting. And the cadenza in the second movement was more interesting ending with the high flageolet! The third movement was really funny with many more nice small details. And she enjoys playing with the orchestra.

Haesue Lee

The commissioned piece for this semifinal is called ‘Doryphóros’ for solo viola, by Alberto Posadas. I had a chance to look into the score:  Wow, 16 pages and 16 difficult pages. With a lot of double stop flageolets. After that I decided not to take the score into the concert, but just to listen. The three candidates that we just heard now will play this piece, one after another, which improves the comparability.

Kyungsik Shin comes on stage to play the piece first. It works really well, all the high flageolets. And the kind of perpetuum mobile, disturbed again by flageolets, creeps up to your neck. In Kyungsik’s hands it looks very easy, he has fabulous technique. The largo part in the middle sounds like wind and sounds from all kinds of objects moving in this atmosphere. It goes again into the perpetuum mobile. The passages of chords sounds as if we are heading for a great ending. Yes!

There is a lot of talking after the performance. I think for the ordinary public the piece is a bit too much to deal with.

Next is Njord Kårason Fossnes: The beginning of the piece sounds much more friendly in his hands. The perpetuum mobile is a bit slower. The disturbing interruptions in between are less, which makes it all a bit more like one thing. The middle part as well is friendlier. He takes the piece as if it were written in a classical time, which is very good. I think it is a great performance!

Let’s see what Haesue Lee does with this piece. I have high expectations of her. As I already thought, she is even more clear. She plays the whole perpetuum mobile spiccato and the interruptions more legato, which makes it sound as if played by two players. The middle part in her hands has a more timeless feeling.

After a 20 minute break, unfortunately there is a smaller audience that returns, although we go back to the “safe haven” of classical concertos.

Today’s first Stamitz concerto is heralded by the replacement of the oboe with two clarinets. Luckily my favorite horns are still in it. The entrance of the solo of Brian Isaacs from the USA is a bit soft. It is a pity he plays on a (no doubt very expensive) mumbling viola. I hope the jury and public will listen through.  He is a great player. Because I was a bit disturbed by the sound, I forgot to listen to his entrance.

As I had expected, he wrote his own Stamitz cadenza! Yeah! Funny as well, sometimes a bit out of context, but nevertheless, he gave his personal touch to the piece.

The second movement suits the instrument, softer in the orchestra and leaves us more together with Brian. The second cadenza was more a walk through of harmonies in which we could walk with him. Good tempo choice. Surprising bits in between the themes. The orchestra has to pay attention. They are sitting on the edge of their chairs. The last quick passages are perfectly played!

Next is “our own” Takehiro Konoe, playing the Hoffmeister. Great playing in the first movement. Very clear. Unfortunately not a self-written cadenza 😳 That could have made the difference with the other Hoffmeister played by Haesue. A very romantic played second movement. His vibrato is great! I do not hear enough personal elements in the third movement, this is something that I miss, only his timing is more personal.

Last candidate, my favorite musician, Ionel Ungureanu, with the Stamitz concerto. Let’s see if he does what I expect. Yes yes!!! Great self written cadenza!!! So good! He will be a great composer as well, mark my words! On stage he is so One with the orchestra! The applause he got was overwhelming. We had to laugh even in the last movement.

But now again the commissioned piece by Posadas, played in succession by Brian, Takehiro and Ionel.

We start with Brian Isaacs. O wow he starts off so beautiful and so quick and soft in the perpetuum mobile. Also the middle part great playing. In his hands the piece is even more beautiful. So far for me the best performance.

Next comes Takehiro Konoe, he plays the piece again a bit sharper, nearer to spiccato. He takes more time and it sounds more easy. The flageolets in the middle part are not an effect anymore but more of a melody. The last part is much slower and he loses his place once, which was a pity.

The last candidate today is Ionel Ungureanu, and again he is great. Well deserved applause!

So my personal favorites are: Ionel, Haesue and Brian

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Editorial note: The jury selected the following players for the Final on Sunday:

  • Haesue Lee, South Korea
  • Takehiro Konoe, Japan (& the Netherlands!)
  • Ionel Ungureanu, Germany

Note: The competition is Livestreamed on the ARD website, and also on YouTube, (Semifinal session: here); where you can go back and listen (if you missed it) and make up your own mind of the performances!

<previous blog report> <next blog report>

Report from ARD Competition 2023, 2nd Round (Day 2)

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The prestigious ARD music competition 2023 (ARD Wettbewerb) for Viola is ongoing these days in Munich (D). Karin Dolman reports exclusively for the DVS her personal impressions day-by-day until the Final on Sunday, Sept. 10th.

<previous blog report> <next blog report>

Round 2, Day 2 (Sept 6th, 2023):

Today we will listen to the last 9 viola candidates of Round 2.

We start off with Takehiro Konoe, here in the program listed as from Japan, but born, raised and educated in the Netherlands, where he studies with Nobuko Imai and Francien Schatborn at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Takehiro starts with Gourzi’s “Evening at the window” (recap: inspired by the Chagall painting of the same name), with the bells around his ankle. The first movement is again a joy to listen to. And every violist plays it differently. Takehiro plays the “Smoke from the chimney” very softly, and a bit more jazzy than others, with many accents. And all the “yellow Moon“s are very soft. “In your arms” is played with a lot of vibrato, and a very personal big vibrato which I am very fond of.

Chagall’s painting “Evening at the Window”

The next piece is by Takemitsu, but this time not ‘A Bird came down the Walk’, but ‘A String around Autumn’ (Editorial note: sometimes also referred to as Takemitzu’s Viola Concerto). It starts with a romantic build up of perfect harmonies. Earlier this year at Nobuko Imai’s 80th birthday celebration, Takehiro played “A Bird” in a heartbreakingly beautiful fashion, and now his Takemitsu is again touching in this 2nd round. The Adagio and Allegro by Robert Schumann is also so beautiful played, great.

The next competitor is Kyungsik Shin from South Korea. After a nice bow he starts off with Hindemith’s “1939” sonata.  Why he has a music stand at all I don’t know, because he plays everything by heart and with a big tone. And with so many characters. He is as well nice to look at.

His communication with this great pianist who plays with him (editorial note: Ken Nakasako) is also nice to see. Pizzicatos are played holding the viola like a guitar, I see him smile in the funny passages knowing the piano score so well. I am really sure we will see Kyungsik in the next round!

Curious how the Brahms will be! And that’s a surprise! He plays very light hearted. With a very light bow stroke he goes through the piece and takes the higher octave. And it sounds really nice. It will take some effort for the jury to understand this approach. I would play it differently, but that’s a question of taste.

The last piece is a composition by Olga Neuwirth (b.1968) from Austria. Her debut composition, written when she was 17, was ‘Die Kuh tanzt Ragtime’ (the cow dances ragtime). Also she wrote for the viola d’Amore!  This piece is called ‘Weariness heals wounds’ with scordatura on the C string, tuned down to a B flat. Virtuosic as well as exploring the sounds of the instrument. You can hear she was a student of Henze. The title of the piece I can’t really hear, but it is really astonishing how Kyungsik plays this extremely difficult piece! Great, we will see you back!

After a 20 minute break we continue with Gaeun Song from South Korea. She starts off with the Fantasiestücke by Schumann. No music stand, so everything by heart and that gives a special feeling. As an audience you are closer to the performer.

The solo piece Gaeun performs is the piece by Betsy Jolas. Hearing the piece for the second time, it starts to form an image. Gaeun’s small and long fingers make all the notes very clear.

Then we hear the (Hindemith) 1939 sonata again. Forget what I said about the sonata not being played often enough… but on the other hand, every musician gives the piece a magical new touch.

The last candidate this morning is the Chinese violist Zihan Zhang, who starts with the sonata in F by Brahms. He forgets to put one stand away and now his sound and view is blocked by this stupid stand.

By the way, there is one thing what I would like to do with nearly all competitors, go and look for better outfits! They are all on stage with awfully dull black clothes! When you come from China, why not some traditional clothing from your home!

Back to Brahms. Zihan tries to keep the Brahms more intimate. But now he is overwhelmed by the piano. It is a pity that Zihan doesn’t take us with him. He is playing along the piano.

As a solo piece Zihan chose the caprice by Bacewicz. Ah, he puts the stand away and there is a totally different viola player on stage. Nice ponticello pizzicatto at the end of the first episode. This is his thing, his fingers are extremely quick which is very imported in the caprice. I am glad he played the Bacewicz!

After the lunch break we listen to Pengxi Zhu from China. He opens his recital with ‘Evening at the window’ by Gourzi. Very impressive playing. The left hand pizzicati are a bit soft compared with the arco. He knows the piece very well, he really performs from the bottom of his heart!

His second piece is the sonata by Rebecca Clarke. It is a very personal approach. For my taste a bit too aggressive, but he plays it convincingly. In the second movement the light-footed element of the music comes across well in his playing. The sonata was composed for the 1919 Berkshire competition. Before that, Rebecca Clarke visited Asian countries with her trio, and used a lot of elements from Asia in her music. Like a lot of French composers from that time.

The last piece is the Arpeggione sonata by Franz Schubert. Pengxi plays very clearly in this sonata, but there is little chemistry between the pianist and viola player. He, on the other hand, tries to connect with the audience. The arrangement is very particular. Could be much simpler.

In the last movement his way of playing comes out very well. He does take a wrong turn at one point. You have to have them very good in your head. This arrangement is for me too much all in the same octave. Unfortunately the piece was not fully mastered by heart.

The room fills up now for the next candidate from Germany and from München; home turf favourite Carla Usberti. I have heard her several times before, and she is a remarkable young lady. She starts off with the Brahms sonata in E flat.  Great of tone and expression! And it all goes so easily.

As a solo piece she plays the Beamish. Carla plays it naturally with a beautiful vibrato in the high passages.

And then once more the (Hindemith) 1939. For Carla the program will be more relaxed than last year at the Hindemith competition. They had to learn so many pieces, which helps her now. She plays with so much ease and everything sound good but as well never dull! Always exciting!

After 10 minutes break we continue with Haesue Lee from South Korea. She starts off with the solo piece by Beamish – a great performance. She really plays to the audience. Haesue brings the piece in a timeless atmosphere.

The next piece on the program is the (Brahms) E flat sonata and yes, she plays it with love! And a nice expression on her face. A side note: she is the only one playing on high heels – and they are thin as nails! Back to Brahms, beautiful tempi in the first movement. Nice portamenti, not too much, just right. I wonder, why do the gentlemen (not all) lose so many bow hairs where the women don’t lose a single hair, when they play with the same strength and power? Who knows the answer?

Beautiful portamenti in the ending of the second movement. I think this is the most beautifully played Brahms so far, I know, still 2 candidates to go, but it is all I need, I can’t imagine someone playing even more beautiful.

In this competition, nobody had fine tuners on their instruments, which could have saved so much time in the tuning. The audience is not allowed to applaud between the pieces. Hmm.

The last sonata Haesue chose is the sonata opus 147 of Schostakowitch. Played with good taste, and not for herself but for us. Ah, a broken hair after all! I suppose shouldn’t have mentioned it. Okay it is the exception in the female world, one hair against 50? Heart breaking beginning of the third movement! Again one more for the next round!

It’s 7 PM and we start with the two last candidates!

First is Yixiu Lin from China, who starts with the Arpeggione sonata by Schubert. Great beginning. Yixiu plays the piece very delicately! A beautiful second movement and in the last movement she shows that she is capable of having all the characters in the right place.

The second piece on her program is the Lachrimae by Britten. A very good performance. Maybe sometimes a bit too eager. Sometimes the viola doesn’t respond to what she does.

The last piece is again the Beamish, perfectly played. It will be a tough task for the jury to take 6 candidates for the next round.

The last candidate of the evening (and of this round) is Emad Zolfaghari from Canada. He starts off with the Brahms F sonata. What passion. Emad is very tall! Every movement he makes (and he makes a lot) looks even bigger! But it comes from his toes! (Editorial note: a Dutch colloquialism, not to be taken too literally).

I said no better Brahms, but this one is at least as good as the other. I love his warm slow vibrato. It reminds me of Norbert Brainin, the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet. I think Emad is still very young.

Yeah, a new piece on the program! L. Ronchetti, Studi profondi für Viola solo. The first movement is a very quick and schizophrenic movement. The second with mute sounds more like a passacaglia. The third is like someone wants to sing, but always gets disturbed; then the mute goes on again and the passacaglia comes back. The beginning comes back to the schizophrenic piece but very well performed. All kinds of extended techniques are used.

Last piece on the menu: Hindemith op.11 no.4, and I think this will be great. With his long fingers and beautiful vibrato and communication with his pianist, this can’t go wrong. The passage ‘Mit grosser Plumpheid vor zu tragen’ he did so great. Unfortunately one small mistake. But I think the jury will polish that away, what a musician!

Tomorrow is a day off! Friday we go on with the semi final! Lets see who’s in!

—

Editorial note: The jury selected the following players for the Semifinal on Friday:

  • Njord Kårason Fossnes, Norway
  • Brian Isaacs, USA
  • Ionel Ungureanu, Germany
  • Takehiro Konoe, Japan (and the Netherlands!)
  • Kyungsik Shin, South Korea
  • Haesue Lee, South Korea

Note: The competition is Livestreamed on the ARD website, and also on YouTube, where you can go back and listen (if you missed it) and make up your own mind of the performances!

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