Kim Kashkashian, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell Davies - Lachrymae - Hindemith, Britten, Penderecki (1993)

This beautifully programmed CD presents three settings for viola and orchestra and a more eloquent statement about the beauty of the viola as an instrument would be hard to imagine (except for perhaps including Vaughan Williams' 'Flos Campi'). The viola finds that middle voice between violin and cello, a rich tone with a built in quality of mournfulness. That quality has inspired the works on this recording and the result is some of the more wistful music ever written.
Dennis Russell Davies conducts the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with the superb violist Kim Kashkashian. The opening work is funeral music ('Trauermusik') written by Paul Hindemith. The orchestra freely quotes from the 'Grablegung' movement of Hindemith's hauntingly beautiful 'Symphony, Mathis der Maler', the viola emerging and receding into the orchestral fabric with plangent intensity. Sir Benjamin Britten's setting for small string orchestra and viola of his 'Lachrymae, reflections on a song of Dowland' follows, demonstrating how this elegant set of theme and variations has successfully been transposed into different settings, each of which is unique (viola and piano, viola and harp, and this viola with strings).
The final work is the stunningly beautiful and rarely heard Viola Concerto by Krzysztof Penderecki. For those unfamiliar with the Polish composer's chamber works the highly personal sound of this work may come as a surprise. For a composer who has relied on sonically acerbic effects for his larger works, this piece is a minimalist diversion.
The performances and the recorded sound are first rate. This CD is another instance when programming is sensitive and interrelated and provides the listener with an extended mood of languorous beauty. -- Grady Harp