Customer Reviews

Hindemith: Sonatas for viola/piano & viola alone

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4 star:		(2)
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The sound quality is good and the performances are excellent. I recently had the opportunity to compare Kashkashian's performance with Hindemith's own 1930s recording and while I naturally give props to Hindemith for recording his own work I like Kashkashian's performance of the Op. 24 viola sonata more-- not just for sound but for the speed and fire she puts into the wild fourth movement.

Hindemith's contribution to viola repertoire is probably the single most important one of the 20th century and this is probably the best available recording of his works. It includes all the solo and with-piano works on just two discs. It's also nice that Kashkashian and Levin recorded the viola works that were unpublished during Hindemith's lifetime, giving us a fuller insight into his work for the instrument than we might otherwise hear.

It's a shame that the viola is not showcased enough. Fortunately, composers such as Hindemith (as well as Bach and others) really took a liking to it (though it is said that Bach loved playing the viola to relieve his stress and was felt it was a valuable asset to music as a whole, he never wrote solo works for it) and expanded its repetoire. As a result, he had an easier time expressing his music via the viola, thus making this CD a great example of Hindemith as a whole. Although some people, who aren't fond of 20th-century music, may not appreciate the unaccompanied sonatas on Disc 1, it would be hard for any romantic NOT to immediately fall in love with the op. 11/4 Sonata with piano on Disc 2. As usual, Kashkashian and Levin do a great job--musically, technically, and as an ensemble.

Violist Kim Kashkashian and Pianist Robert Levin have recorded performances here as impressive as any every committed to disc. With one CD of solo viola works and another of works of viola and piano together, this two CD set runs an entire universe of ideas, thoughts and feelings. The solo viola work is fabulous, both musically and technically. By the time you hear the haunting echoed tune of the Op.11 number 4, last movement being traded back-and-forth between the viola and piano, you will know that the musical repose of a brilliant musical mind like Hindemith's never goes out of style.

This album is the ultimate example of what a viola should sound like. If you say you don't like Hindemith's writing, then you obviously haven't heard Kim kashkashian's performance of the Sonata Op. 11 no. 4. If I had to pay ... just to hear that one sonata I would still consider it a bargain. This CD should be required listening for every viola student.

Now I consider myself an amateur listener, but I can tell you that this recording of the Hindemith Sonatas is absolutely amazing. Kim Kashkashian's viola sound is breathtaking, and Robert Levin does a wonderful job as well.

Being a violist myself, I of course love to hear a well-done viola recording, and this recording is one of the best I own, if not the best. Kim Kashkashian's interpretation of these sonatas is wonderful, and I will cherish these two CDs for probably the rest of my life.

I definitely recommend this recording to any violist.

This CD is A great recording of the Hindmith sonatas. The sound of Kim's Viola is breathtaking and so great. All Violists should own this CD. These pieces might take some time to warm up to if you're not used to modern music.But once you warm up to them each one is a gem. Its one of my favorite CDs at the moment. This CD will make you love the sound of the Viola or your money back garanteed. haha.

This album has been one of the staples of my listening environment for over twenty years. The music is austere, granitic, and will not immediately engage some listeners (my elderly father, mistaking the opening track for a modern composition, once sneered that only pretentious trendies could possibly feign a liking for such noise. He did not believe me when I told him that he was three years old when it was composed). Those who give it a fair hearing will find that where an initially intellectual interest is piqued the emotions will shortly, and deeply, follow. I have a largish musical library (around 800 discs), and were I compelled to sell it off, this title would be among the last dozen to go. Highest recommendation.

On this classic two-disc ECM release, recorded 1985-89, the violist Kim Kashkashian performs 7 works by Paul Hindemith, sometimes accompanied by pianist Robert Levin. The works are:

* Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11, No. 4 (1919)

* Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 25 No. 4 (1922)

* Sonata for Viola and Piano (1939)

* Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 11, No. 5 (1919)

* Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25, No. 1 (1922)

* Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 31, No. 4 (1923)

* Sonata for Solo Viola (1937)

My only previous exposure to Hindemith was his series of concertos "Kammermusik" (on a Decca set), which I found lightweight and unmemorable. The material here, however, has some weight to it. My favourite pieces are the two collected under Hindemith's opus twenty-five, whose against-the-grain tonality and rhythmic zest recall Bartók. Most of the music is squarely neoclassical, but kept interesting through the effusive writing. The viola was Hindemith's own instrument, and these works were written for him to perform. On one hand they have the flashy virtuosity that a performer wants in order to wow audience, while on the other hand they have the substance that a composer-theorist can endow them with. The contrapuntal writing of the solo sonatas has inevitably lead to comparisons with Bach's sonatas for solo violin, and the works give the listener a new appreciation for the stringent, husky tone of the viola.

That's not to say that all of the music is perfect. For example, the opus 31/4 is lovely at first, but then it loses me in the third movement, a set of variations longer than the first two movements combined, which seems to go on and on pointlessly. Still, the bulk of what is here is entertaining and Kashkashian's musicianship is impeccable.

...I had no knowledge of, nor familiarity with Hindemith's works prior to purchasing this CD on a whim; I was not disappointed. The angularity of the compositions and the passionate delivery sit nicely in that clean/crisp ECM sound. Highly recommended.

It would have been appropriate to include Hindemith's 1922 "Little Sonata for Viola d'amore and Piano", Op. 25, no. 2. This interesting 3 movement piece is only 12 minutes long and played on the viola d'amore, an instrument related to the viola, but more difficult to play. I think that this excellent recording would have been even better with this additional piece. I'm sure that Kashkashian knows how to play it and there was room for it.

To hear what you're missing, listen to "Hindemith: The Complete Sonatas, Vol. 2" by Ensemble Villa Musica.