Antoine Tamestit & Cédric Tiberghien - Bel Canto: The Voice of the Viola (2017) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Going well beyond mere historical interest, this album unveils the charms of a repertoire that delighted Parisian concert halls and salons throughout the 19th century. It demonstrates how the viola finally emerged from the violin’s shadow thanks to virtuoso playing, now resuscitated by the talent of Antoine Tamestit and Cédric Tiberghien in pieces which offer much more than the exquisite languors of bel canto. Italian for 'beautiful singing' or 'beautiful song', the term remains vague and ambiguous but is commonly used to evoke a lost singing tradition; in this case the famed singing tone of Antoine Tamestit's viola, a 1672 Stradivarius, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.

Born in Paris, Antoine Tamestit studied with Jesse Levine at Yale University and with Tabea Zimmermann. He has won several coveted prizes including the William Primrose Competition, first prize at the Young Concert Artists (YCAT) international auditions, a place on BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists Scheme and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. Antoine Tamestit’s distinguished discography includes Berlioz’s 'Harold en Italie', which was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev and released in 2015 by LSO Live. For Naïve he has recorded three of the Bach Suites, Hindemith solo and concertante works recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi, and an earlier recording of 'Harold' with Marc Minkowski and Les Musicians du Louvre. This particular diva is the viola; its servant is Antoine Tamestit, here making his first solo recording for harmonia mundi.

TRACKLIST

Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)

Viola Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 36
1 I. Maestoso - Allegro 11:37
2 II. Barcarolla. Andante con moto 06:30
3 III. Finale scherzando. Allegretto 04:05

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

4 La Fille du Régiment, Act I, Scene 11: Air de Marie "Il faut partir" (Arr. for Piano & Viola) 05:54

Henri Vieuxtemps

5 Elegie in F Minor, Op. 30 06:47

Gaetano Donizetti

6 La Favorita, Act III, Scene 4: Air de Léonore "Ô mon Fernand" (Arr. for Piano & Viola) 03:40

Jacques-Féréol Mazas (1782-1849)

7 Le Songe, Op. 92: Elégie sur un thème de La Favorite 11:58

Casimir Ney (1801-1877)

8 Prelude No. 15 for Solo Viola 04:58

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)

9 Norma, Act I, Scene 1: Air de Norma "Casta Diva" (Arr. for Piano & Viola) 06:15

Henri Vieuxtemps

10 Capriccio for Solo Viola, Op. 55 03:25

PERSONNEL
Antoine Tamestit, Viola
Cedric Tiberghien, Piano