Roberto Díaz Presents an All-Brahms Recital
Roberto Díaz Presents an All-Brahms Recital
The Chilean violist, one of the best in the world, performed Brahms at a memorable concert in November.
Renowned Chilean violist Roberto Díaz and pianist Kwan Yi presented an all-Brahms concert in November featuring three sonatas from the composer's late period. In March of 2010, Díaz, who Christoph Eschenbach described as "one of the greatest viola players in the world, if not the greatest,” began his tenure as president of the Curtis Institute of Music in Baltimore after spending 6 years as principal violist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Díaz's appointment makes him the first South American to hold the post.
Among the pieces performed that evening, Díaz began with the Sonata for Viola and Piano in E-flat, Op. 120. Six years prior to the composition of this piece, Brahms made a vow to retire from composing, a promise that proved short-lived. In January of 1891, after being captivated by the artistry of clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld at an arts festival in Meiningen, Germany, Brahms broke this vow and composed Op. 120 for the clarinetist. The composer would later transcribe these pieces for viola as some of the last chamber music he completed before he died in 1897, and the pieces stand as some of the greatest in both the clarinet and viola repertoire.
The remaining piece on the program was a transcription of Brahms’s first Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 78, transcribed by Hungarian violist Csaba Erdelyi. Frequently called the “Rain Sonata,” Brahms incorporated many of the motivic ideas featured in his Op.59 lied Regenlied, Clara Schumann’s favorite art song, in the violin sonata. Brahms appropriately chose this sonata to be played at the funeral of his lifelong friend Clara Schumann, and the image of rain seems well suited for the funeral of this very important figure in the composer's life.
Described by the Washington Post as playing with a sound that “pours out with confidence and élan,” Díaz will continue solo and chamber music performances next year in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Evanston, Illinois.
Sonata for Viola and Piano in D, Op. 78, Movement II: Adagio - Piú andante - Adagio
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