Category Archives: Recensies

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 below), 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 wiht 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.

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.

Once again we continued our cherry-picking tour through the musical landscape of Paris this evening, leaving the Philharmonie behind as soon as Ridout had left the stage. We rushed back to CNSAD to catch whatever might be left of IVC featured artist Tatjana Masurenko‘s recital. We were in luck, because the start of 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.

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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

—

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!

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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.

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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

—

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!

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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.

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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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Report from ARD Competition 2023, 2nd Round (Day 1)

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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.

<next blog report>

Round 2, Day 1 (Sept 5th, 2023):
Today I will make my first report from the ARD international Viola Competition in Munich. The First round was played last weekend, and from the 46 candidates who were pre-selected by video, 17 went to the quarter finals. The great young violists selected are:

  • Noga Shaham, Israel
  • Wassili Wohlgemuth, Germany
  • Rebecca Benjamin, USA
  • Aleksandr Tatarinov, Russia
  • Njord Kårason Fossnes, Norway
  • Yoonsun Jang, South Korea
  • Brian Isaacs, USA
  • Ionel Ungureanu, Germany
  • Takehiro Konoe, Japan (but born, raised and educated in the Netherlands!)
  • Kyungsik Shin, South Korea
  • Gaeun Song, South Korea
  • Zihan Zhang, China
  • Penguin Zhu, China
  • Carla Usberti, Germany
  • Haesue Lee, South Korea
  • Yixiu Lin, China
  • Emad Zolfaghari, Canada

Before the competition started, I had to leave my belongings at the cloakroom. Therefore, I am unable to make drawings this time. I also have to learn to type very quickly on my phone. Good practice.

I met Jamie from Australia, 18 years old and visiting his first international viola competition. He was allowed to take a notebook, which makes sense. Young musicians should be able to take notes.

Noga Shaham (relative of a famous violinist?) was the first competitor. She started off with the solo piece ‘Ariel’ by UK composer Sally Beamish. Beamish is a composer I am not very familiar with her music, despite her numerous contributions to the viola repertoire. I will definitely buy this piece and listen to more of her compositions! This modest piece was well treated by Noga.

The second piece on her program was the ‘Lacrimae’ by Benjamin Britten. Her performance was very free and with a very beautiful warm tone which suits the work. When the sordino comes off the string, the power of this young violist is on full display. Noga chooses for the variations with flageolets in the ossia part.

This was followed by the whole first sonata by Johannes Brahms. All played with a beautiful bright tone.

Next was Wassili Wohlgemuth, one of the three German competitors. He started with the second sonata by Brahms. What appeals to me is that his colours in the Brahms are so rich. A very nice quick tempo in the first movement which suits him very well. In the first movement he plays the higher octaves, like the clarinet, which makes sense and he handles it very easily. Also the second movement was quick again, the contrast with the subito piano ending works well. Great performance

The Beamish piece is totally different in Wassili’s hands. More funny moments in it, with humor. The ricochet is very clear. He plays the piece by heart which makes the performance special. Wassili plays with a lot of rosin on his bow. When he pulls off a broken hair you see the dust come off..

The Britten ‘Lachrimae’ is more straight and gives one an idea of the sorts of variations. The last variation is so quick that I feared he would lose tempo, but he managed to keep this up. The Dowland quote is played with great purity, thank you Wassili.

After a small break and a meeting with Lars Tomter and Jutta Puchhammer, both in the jury, we continue with Rebecca Benjamin.

She starts off with the second Brahms sonata. She is a bit insecure in the beginning but already in the second phrase she is on track with a beautiful vibrato and singing voice. Rebecca is a delicate player, not very often associated with the USA. I like her approach to Brahms very much. And she is enjoying it!

In the next piece by Konstantia Gourzi you can really hear that the composer is Greek. The harmonies, intervals and slides and the bells around the foot give a Mediterranean feeling. The piece is named after a painting by Chagall ’Evening at the window’ and has 6 movements:

A Rooster in the sky
The yellow moon
Smoke from the chimney
The yellow Moon
In your arms
The yellow MOON

The first movement is a rhythmic movement, Greek folk music with bells. “The yellow moon” is short with a hotel mute, which gives a specific sound not often used. The third movement is with pizzicatos and glittering quick notes. “The yellow Moon”, is played with a normal mute. “In your arms” definitely refers to two people and has distinctly Arabic sounds. Clearly a love song and passionate. The last movement “The yellow MOON” this time is played without the mute! Great piece and great performance. Like the Beamish, this is a piece to take with me to the viola classroom.

The last piece on the program is the romantic sonata opus 11 nr 4 by Paul Hindemith. Rebecca gives a wonderful performance!

The fourth candidate Aleksandr Tatarinov also plays the piece by Gourzi, which gives us the opportunity to know this piece better. Aleksandr is a performer and plays with his audience. The “Smoke rising from the chimney” is more jazzy! He dares to really play on the fingerboard. The piece is even more rich in his hands! And he plays the instrument as if he is born with it.

The second piece is the Adagio and Allegro by Schumann. In the adagio he takes beautiful opportunities to use octave layers.

In Britten’s Lachrimae, you see that Aleksandr dares to use the bow differently. Like in the tremolo he turns the hair towards the fingerboard which gives a great sound. His playing is humorous as well in the pizzicato, and he communicates with his pianist. On the other hand, sometimes it is as if he is reading his part. It is like he didn’t expect to be in this round of the competition. The Britten is clearly not completely prepared. But I love his way of treating the viola and music.

After a good lunch with two friends, I am ready for the next four competitors. First is Njord Kårason Fossnes, 2nd prize winner of the Hindemith competition 2022. This very young violist is a student of Kim Kashkashian. She is so capable of giving every student the space to develop their own character. So Njord is not a copy of someone, but just himself.

He starts off with Schumann’s Fantasiestücke. The viola looks like a toy instrument in his giant hands. He is so well prepared. The sheet music is only pro forma. And the way he plays shows he is used to playing in competitions and concerts. Maybe these Fantasy pieces could also be played in the lower registers instead of so high on the instrument. Or could the piano score be altered?

The piece by the French composer Betsie Jolas, “Episode no 6” (1984) is much more abstract than many composers write today. It’s like a half awake dream, where your thoughts go from one absurd moment to the other, where you wake up and still don’t know what you dreamed. It’s music which doesn’t get into your memory. I played the piece myself once and couldn’t remember any of it. But Njord knows the piece very well and plays it by heart, making a story out of it.

The last piece is the Hindemith Sonata op. 25 no. 4, which is a very pushy sonata. Even in the lyric solos in the viola, the piano never stops pushing and pounding on the beat. You don’t get any chance to breathe. But the second movement gives some air to the player and public. I think this movement is one of the most touching movements in his oeuvre. With nearly no notes and use of the sordino. You only have to play what is written and no more. In the last movement Hindemith runs again. With some funny moments but with a pushy piano part. The passage on the C string is one of my favourite passages. This giant Njord is a sublime viola player who deserved the bravos received from the audience.

The second candidate of the afternoon is Yoonsun Jang from South Korea. She starts with Gourzi. Barefoot on stage, which makes sense with the first piece. Let’s see how this rooster sings. She has very clear left hand pizzicato’s. And also her timing of the bells is very clear, as if she is playing with a second player. I like again the use of the hotel mute! In solo viola pieces it is so good to use! The third movement is played more quietly, and gives the impression of two persons being on stage. Well done. I like the tempo, it feels timeless. Her “Smoke from the chimney” is more like the white smoke of a newly chosen pope. The second “yellow moon” sounds very beautiful, not messy but very bright. I like this performance of Gourzi very much.

To play Schubert’s Arpeggione in a competition is very dangerous. Every jury member will have a very strong opinion on the piece. It is a big task to listen with an open mind to the player. Same goes for an audience member. What are the rules to play such a piece on stage: first of all, you have to doubt every arrangement and make one your own. Second, you have to tell a story. And third, you have to communicate with the pianist. Very often the pianists play the piece as an automatic machine, so you have to wake them up and make it joyful for both players and share that with your audience. Only if you are capable of that, go ahead and play it in a competition.

The Hindemith Sonata 1939 is clearly written in a time when everyone was confused. The culture world couldn’t believe the hate that was spreading at the time. I think this disbelief is what this sonata is all about. Desperate, hopeful, joyful, sad, crying, laughter, every second of this sonata changes. It is a sonata that should be played more often and helps us be aware of the political choices we make.

Back to the competition. Yoonsun brings out this message well. Portraying all of the characters in the piece.

17.40 we go on with the last two competitors. First Brian Isaacs from New York, now studying with Tabea Zimmermann.

Brian starts off with a transcription of Grieg’s 3rd violin sonata, which suits the viola very well. Grieg needed much more time writing this sonata than for the first two he wrote. The heroic opening of the first movement is in great contrast to the lyric second theme. Brian is a very virtuoso violist, plays incredibly in tune and has a great vibrato. And he lets us believe we are in the mountains looking over the fjords in Norway.

Clearly Grieg was a pianist. The second movement starts with a heavenly piano solo where you only think the viola will disturb it, but Brian joins in heavenly manner. The second theme is like a dance of fairies. The third movement looked like a whole sonata on its own, and so passionately played. Wow, how beautifully this young man plays!

Grażyna Bacewicz was one of the first recognized female composers from Poland with an international career. Born in 1909, trained as a violinist, she composed mainly for her beloved violin. We hear her fourth capriccio for violin solo but now on the viola, composed one year before she died, only 60 years old.

The capriccio (I suppose a fifth lower) is really in a Polish style. They were much more into avant-garde techniques than the rest of Europe at the time. The capriccio seems to be in more parts. The second part with a lot of flageolets and very demanding. How well in tune are all of the octaves. The third part is with a lot of double stops and arpeggios. The fourth part is more lyrical, ending with the most virtuosic passages imagined.

Brian wraps up with the sonata opus 25 no. 4 by Paul Hindemith. As well so perfect and with great taste! Like what I said, just play the second movement and didn’t do too much. The sonata was written earlier in 1922 after the Great War, when Hindemith decided to fully concentrate on the viola. Lucky we are that he did so. I nearly cry listening to the second movement. The chords of the last movement are really recognizable as tonal chords. With a lot of players you hear only a kind of percussion here. The passage on the c-string is played more at the frog, which sounds really crispy. After the long B, the tempo stays very slow which gives us a great ending! Bravo. He only lost about 20 bow hairs!

Brian should be careful that he keeps a few hairs on his bow for the final on Sunday. Because I think he is definitely a candidate for that!

The last candidate is Ionel Ungureanu. He starts off with the Beamish piece. Ungureanu is a great musician, and a composer himself. He has a great clear viola. But of course he still has to do it. All the notes, flageolets, ricochet, come out so easily.

Next piece on the program are the Fantasiestücke by Schumann. In this arrangement I miss a bit of the lower register of the viola. Ionel was also a competitor at the Hindemith competition last year, and I was already in favour of him then. He has grown even more, with this clear voice, and incredibly good intonation, playing so nice and clean and still with passion and grabbing you by the throat.

Once more Hindemith’s  “1939” Sonata. Ionel knows the piece very well, and brings all the characters out. All the arpeggios so perfect. I think in Ionel will be another finalist!

So many gifted viola players walking around… is this the case with the violin as well I wonder? I am looking forward to tomorrow’s session!

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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IVC Salaya Blog – Day 3

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The 48th International Viola Congress took place in Salaya, Thailand from June 6th – 10th, 2023. With a bit longer delay than usual, this daily blog report is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 3: Thursday, June 8th, 2023
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The third day of the IVC in Salaya started off with a lecture doubleheader. The first lecture by Paul Groh discussed the Telemann Fantasias and their adaptation to the viola. Next up was Hillary Herndon and her students from the University of Tennessee, presenting a first printed anthology of works from the ground-breaking AVS Under-represented Composers Database. The album is called “Mosaic” and draws from the works of black and latino composers. A number of these pieces were performed.
Unfortunately I missed both of these morning lectures, which my better (rise-and-shiney) half told me were indeed very interesting. She even took a picture for me:

The first recital I did attend today was that of Jorge Alves, with a programme titled “Beautiful songs by 20th century Portuguese Composers“, The works were by Joly Braga Santos, Armando José Fernandes and a sonatine by Luiz Costa. Especially this sonatine spoke to me, indeed beautiful (as advertised), without any overly modernistic pretentions. I admire Jorge for his persistent drive to bring us this music from his homeland, and my guess is that we stlll have much to look forward to from him.

Now the stage was set for special guest artist Krit Supabpanich in the MACM auditorium. Supabpanich is a “home grown” former student of the Mahidol Univ. College of Music and currently is a member of the Thailand Philharmonic. The program consisted predominantly of new (premiere) music by Thai composers, several of which were present at the concert. We’re all ears!

He starts off with a solo piece called “Student’s Parade” (by Cherng-Woei Tai), no doubt meant as a nod to his past at this school. It has a certain idiomatic and agreeable motion and harmony, which however soon was to be outshone by the ensuing viola/cello duet called “Perpetual Transience” (composed by Chanathip Chaisirinon) – which had a captivating effect on me.

After this came a bit of a letdown, Study nr.2 for solo viola (composed by Rattana Suparatanachatpan) leaned heavily on Extended Techniques but seemed more a showcase of how to produce weird sounds with your viola, rather than a truly artistic expression. The Lazzi for solo viola (by Jirapat Leetrakulnumchai) maneuvred us back to the conceptual world of the initial Parade piece, which I feel more at ease with.

Last but certainly not least, Tanaphan Polrob had been commissioned to write a Sonata for viola and Guzheng (a kind of Chinese cither that is used also in Thai traditional music). The sonata carries the title “Perpetuum mobile“, however I couldn’t quite match this title with the music – but the Guzheng player assured me that the requisite looping patterns were present, I guess I need some training to digest this quite complex and interesting new soundscape. What in particular appealed to me was the direct musicianship in the interplay and sound confluence of the viola and this guzheng. All in all, Supabpanich and his team of composers and co-performers (pictured below) deserve many kudos for launching this gutsy program of Thai contemporary music onto the world stage.

Although the next recital artist was already waiting in the wings, at this point I had to leave the MACM auditorium for a number of reasons:
1) realizing it was 14.00h and the College canteen closes around this time;
2) avoiding “cold fusing” my lower back to the auditorium seat
3) knowing there was no other possible break in sight until after the evening concert

When I returned from lunch, it was to hear Vinciane Béranger and her teammates Tiphaine Lucas (cello) and Joachim Besse (piano) in a charming programme inspired by Rebecca Clarke’s “Irish Melody” (new arr. for viola/cello). We might have known that the tune “Danny boy” (with an appreciative wave to our Congress Host) would turn up here, sooner or later, and it did :-). However, the actual programme was modified significantly compared to the printed one (where the pieces with piano were not even mentioned), I had planned to ask what was actually played (it was certainly not Bartók and Lutoslawski) – anyhow it was very enjoyable.

Time for this year’s congress contribution of the young Norwegian Viola Society, brought to us by mr. Povilas Syrrist-Gelgota. This charismatic Lithuanian-born violist has abandoned the financial security of his Oslo Philharmonic seat to enjoy the freedom of off-road viola playing. And he knows how to use this freedom, mixing folk songs, his own improvisations and compositions, and his quite steady vocal chords to create a very intriguing set.

A memorable part was the composition “Song of the Mountain People” by Vidar Kristensen, while Norwegian music, it is inspired by Taiwanese folk songs and brought to you by a Lithuanian violist at this congress in Thailand. “Music without borders” (this year’s congress theme), indeed! More singing in “Ingen vinner frem” and two own compositions by Povilas called “Dream” and “Best Wishes”. The congress audience was very appreciative of this performance.

Enter Jerzy Kosmala. This respected US-based Polish violist and teacher has passed the age where you just don’t ask anymore, but is still on his feet and performing. We vividly recall his performing Wranitzky’s double concerto with his own grandson at the congress in Poznan (2019). This time he brought us a hearty menu consisting of Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, Bloch’s Suite Hebraïque and the entire César Franck Sonata.

Did I mention it was a rather busy congress program this afternoon/evening? Since 11am this morning there have been 7 straight recitals so far, it is now 5 pm, and we still have 4 performances to go.

The next one was truly a whopper: All of Hindemith’s (four) solo sonatas in one go, performed by the American violist Amadi Azikiwe.  He had chosen the following playing order (by opus number): 25/1, 31/4, “1937” and 11/5.

The sonatas were all well played, but are not particularly suited for such a marathon (or should we say “Hindemithon”), in my view. The well known opening sonata 25/1 sounded as if one was saving energy for all the other sonatas to come. But each of these pieces deserve undivided and unreserved polishing devotion in order for the Hindemith spirit to pop out of the lamp. Also in the technically gruelling opening movement of 31/4, Saint Hindemith’s bald head did not emerge from behind the clouds. Peace and balance finally came in the 2nd movement.

But Azikiwe was only just getting warmed up, and halfway through the programme, he seemed to have found the groove. His convincing rendition of the “1937” sonata, infamous for its technical demands, drew spontaneous cheers from the audience. Really well done! (afterward, at the dinner table in Ristorante Rustico, he told me this is also his favourite of the four sonatas … we could tell.).

Now for the final 11/5 sonata however, I had a problem, which was all on my side. I love Hindemith just as much as the next violist (maybe even more!), but my ears and brain need a break. My grandpa used to say, “I can never get too much beer, but my arms grow tired”. So the bottom line is still that I prefer Hindemith’s solo sonatas in moderate digestible amounts.

A big tip of the hat to Azikiwe nonetheless for braving this monster challenge. And certainly he had a most appreciative and knowledgeable Viola audience, unlike any you’d find in the average recital hall.

Some lighter material awaited us in the programme “Musical Hors d’Oeuvres for viola and violin from around the world“, performed by IVS President Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot and Viola Congress regular “house violinist” Annette-Barbara Vogel. Departing from Jutta’s native Austria (Vienna), a Robert Fuchs op. 60 duo gave the upbeat to a “world tour” of duos taking us through France (Charles Koechlin), Russia (Arthur Lourié and Reinhold Glière – composers for which today surely Belarus and Ukraine, respectively, would claim credit), Canada (both Jutta’s and Annette-Barbara’s current residence) and finally England (Gordon Jacob).

A few notes – the Glière duos are of course originally for violin and cello. It was not clear whether Jutta was reading the bass clef or whether someone had touched up her part with a viola clef. Would be nice to know! Secondly, the duo “Three for Pi” by Canadian composer Paul Frehner was in fact commissioned for this congress. If there was a voiced effort to explain this title, I must have missed it (I admit I was a bit tired at this point), I am speculating now on mathematical / symbolic meanings or possible word plays. I’ll add the explanation here if/when I find it!

The next recital by Juliet White-Smith (titled “Origins: Pre-21st Century Viola Works from the African Diaspora“) brought a couple of surprises. There were two pleasant shorter violin/piano transcriptions, Night and Elfentanz by Florence Price (1887-1953). But the core elements of White-Smith’s recital were two original viola works by the Afro-American composer Ulysses Kay (1917-1995) :A single-movement Sonatina, followed by a four-part Sonata, the latter written under audible mentorship of Paul Hindemith himself. Thank you to mrs. White-Smith for her research that has resurfaced this music, which certainly should be able to hold its own in our repertoire.

This evening’s special “Featured Artist” concert was given by the TAIORO ensemble from New Zealand, featuring viola great and former IVC Congress Host Donald Maurice, together with “spoken work poet” Sharn Maree and pianist Sherry Grant.  We heard poems interleaved and sometimes supported by viola/piano works by Alfred Hill, Douglas Lilburn and Sharn Maree herself. The poetry springs from the indigenous Māori culture and reflects on sometimes painful confrontations with social inequality and change.

This evening’s “afterparty” in Ristorante Rustico drew a lot of hungry and thirsty people after a very intensive congress day! At some point, “someone” from the Polish delegation started pouring drinks that definitely were not apple juice. A Good Time ™ was had by all.

On to Day 4!

Kristofer

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