“Viola Viola” review

“Viola Viola” features the dynamic talent Hsin-Yun Huang, who feels that she as a musician has a responsibility not only to highlight past masterworks, but to continue to grow the canon of literature for the particular instrument.  Consequently, this album features familiar modern composers like Poul Ruders, who wrote a series of Romances expressly for this CD as well as Steven Mackey, whose work became familiar when she was part of the Borromeo Quartet.  The seven movements of “Ground Swell” included here describe a hike up and down...

Brentano Quartet and Hsin-Yun Huang: Mozart: String Quartet; String Quintet

Listen – 1st MovementListen – 2nd Movement

Mozart’s D Major Quintet, K593, opens with what might be a dialogue between Virtues, a back and forth exchange between Truth and Beauty. The cello alone sets forth the position of Truth, firm and regal, yet austere, and in response the upper four instruments offer a more sensual, elegant, and beguiling response on behalf of Beauty. The conversation continues throughout the Larghetto introduction, and the cello gradually gives up some of its certainty, eventually joining the upper parts. The introduction comes to a halt in an almost teasing manner and as the Allegro begins the music becomes Haydnesque in its wit and flourish. And in fact it is easy to imagine here that Mozart is both paying tribute to and aiming to delight the older composer whom he both revered and loved and who, it turns out, is known to have played viola in a reading of the piece. The theme here is derived from the initial response of the violin in the introduction, as if to suggest that Wit and Humor are closely allied with and contained within Beauty…

Viola Viola

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It is my belief that while we musicians have the privilege to explore art forms of profound beauty, we also have a responsibility to the world’s ongoing creative process. Ever since the first time I heard Haydn’s “Sunrise” Quartet, I dreamed of a life in chamber music. In my mind, the viola in a chamber ensemble represents the most human figure: a voice that does not intend to be flashy or self-centered, but is rather the diplomatic glue that holds everyone together. It shines subtly and its unique timbre is unforgettable. Being a violist in a chamber music context is almost a philosophical way of life and a state of mind.