Paul Silverstone (viola) & Aglaia Tarantino (piano)

Schubert’s popular sonata for Arpeggione, a very rare instrument these days, is commonly played on the cello but sounded just as rich and exciting on the viola. It prepared our ears for modern works by three composers who all happened to die last year. Hans Werner Henze’s ‘Sonata’ (1979) took us into a complex, mystical sound world. Elliot Carter’s ‘Figment IV’ was concise and intriguing. Richard Rodney Bennet’s delightfully doleful ‘After Ariadne’, a work composed for Silverstone, developed themes from Monteverdi’s lament ‘Laciatemi Morire’. The concert ended brilliantly with Stravinsky’s entertaining ‘Suite Italienne’, which is full of bright neoclassical tunes.

St Nicholas Church, 24 May 2013

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