Viola rules! Tamestit is a resident artist and one of the few real viola stars. The French string player, in his mid-forties, impresses with his sense of color, virtuosity and versatility. He demonstrates all of this at the start of his residency when he joins the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra as a soloist.
Baroque battle! The sixth Brandenburg Concerto has a special sound. Because Johann Sebastian Bach dispenses with violins. Although - the word "renunciation" doesn't really fit. It's more of a gain that you can finally hear the violas better, with their warm timbre. Especially when someone like Antoine Tamestit makes this timbre shine. The artist in residence takes on one of the viola solo parts. The other is played by chief conductor Alan Gilbert, a trained string player. A baroque viola battle at eye level.
Daredevil music: the groove with which Bach makes the two fast movements swing also echoes in the second piece of the program: Chamber Music No. 5 by Paul Hindemith, a viola concerto in disguise. After a crisp, short fanfare, the chamber orchestra with winds and low strings drives the viola forward. And it is not only here that the viola has a lot to fiddle about. In this piece, composed in 1927, Hindemith wrote himself one of the most difficult solo works for viola - and let off steam with his delight in weird, sometimes bizarre ideas. The Hindemith Forum once titled his seven chamber works "Music of a daredevil".
September 21, 2024
