Hartmut Lindemann - Beau Soir: Virtuoso Viola - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

My skepticism on my first encounter in about 1991 - Never heard of him, who on earth is Mr Lindemann?Inch tipped suddenly over into unbounded enthusiasm, which has since mellowed into calm confidence Lindemann has for the first time convinced me so firmly of the use of a rounded bow, with his portrayal of Bach's Chaconne, that I really Inchcouldn't botherInch about it's usage. The music created with it is overwhelming. [...] And if a player can summon up enough ardent eloquence, which supersedes all questions about the wherefore of the realization, we can only be talking about a really top-drawer musician...Inch (Stereoplay) Inch... There are basically two ways to play this work (Arnold Bax Sonata) tightly and dramatically, as Tertis and Bax do; or more discursively and romantically, as William Primrose and Harriet Cohen do in the other notable historical recording. Lindemann and Martin take the latter course, but execute their interpretation more convincingly than Primrose and Cohen. They shape the Celtic-influenced melodies with a sure touch and get right inside the music. (...) If you buy no other viola recital in 1994, buy this one.Inch (The Strad)

Viola Virtuosa aims to demonstrate that the viola can, in addition to producing all the deep, sad notes and songful qualities attributed to it, also be an independent solo instrument. The instrument's position, between the violin and the cello, offers us violists many opportunities to combine elements from both soundscapes and thereby to create something independent and new. This features a number of transcriptions - not derived from a desire to take something from someone else, but because I am absolutely convinced that good music can be played in a variety of ways as long as we remain true to the spirit in which the work was originally composed. Works by both Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe and Gaspar Cassadó appear on this album, played for the first time on the viola. Ysaÿe has long fascinated me, and after featuring this work in a number of my concerts, it seemed perfectly natural to record his 4th Sonata. It was my former student Martin Moriarty who suggested the possibility of playing Cassadó on the viola, when he turned up for a lesson one day with the score of this cello suite. I was enthusiastic from the word go because the suite sounds so good on the viola and I hope that the enthusiasm we felt during the recording session is palpable. Thank you, Martin, for this great idea! (Veit Hertenstein)

Hartmut Lindemann very rarely records a CD. This new one is only his fifth in fifteen years, anxiously awaited by his fans. The meticulous care he devotes to the production is all the greater. He structures his programs as recitals in the old-fashioned sense, varied collections of witty, sensitive and virtuoso pieces; so it is no surprise that when he is asked about his artistic roots he only mentions a few role models from the early twentieth century. He plays the Arpeggione Sonata with guitar accompaniment instead of piano. This is not surprising, as the work was not composed for the viola, but for the arpeggione with piano. And his rendering of Schumann's D Minor Sonata is most unusual when played on a viola. This recording must surely overshadow many a violin version. The recital is rounded off by a little recording of Hubay's Zephyr, written in 1982 in strange circumstances.