CSO 2014-2015: For Viola Students

Recently I was asked what Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts I would recommend to a viola student. So, I put together a list for the 2014-15 season, and here it is! Each of the dates link to the event page on cso.org, and in the description are links to excerpts from YouTube. I don't know if you can tell, but had a blast putting this together ;)

Would you recommend any others?

November 19- Anne-Sophie Mutter. She’s a master violinist; watching her technique will be invaluable. The Mendelssohn Octet has 2 violas (here’s a good example); Vivaldi 4 seasons is standard viola repertoire.

November 20/21/22/23/25- Brandenburg Concerto. I played these for years! Starting in high school through college. They remind me of Christmas, fall and winter especially... the viola has a great line that jumps down and up. Such fun to play! 

December 11/12/13/16- Honeck conducts Beethoven 7. Don Juan by Strauss is on all the auditions for Violists, the Beethoven is beautiful, and a young violist will play much Haydn.

March 1- Gil Shaham: Bach Project. Bach’s suites for Violin and Cello are vital to violists- they’re well known to audiences and challenging for the performer. Here’s Mr. Shaham playing the incomparable Ciaccona and here, NPR recorded him playing Bach’s 3^rd partita.

March 5/6/7- Beethoven Tripple Concerto. Virtuosos of Violin, Cello, and Piano, plus Ricardo Mutti and Beethoven. Here’s Yo-yo Ma, Perlman, and Barenboim.

March 6- Silk Road Ensemble. I recommend seeing groups that explore non-traditional music and feature strings. With our smaller repertoire, the viola is uniquely positioned to advocate for new music. And, like with Mutter, any string student is going to benefit by seeing Yo-yo Ma! Excerpt on the CSO site.

March 19/20/21- Charles Dutoit and Yo-yo Ma. Any core repertoire for Violin or Cello will help the young violists- the Lalo Cello Concerto is one such pillar.

March 27/29- Beyond the Score: Brahms 3^rd Symphony. Brahms wrote 2 Sonatas for Clarinet (the F minor and E flat major) that are Viola standards, they’re beautiful. At first glance his symphonies appear “classical” sounding, but he floats familiar tonality over unconventional time signatures. The 1^st half of this concert is an educational/theatrical presentation of his music and life, the 2^nd half is his 3^rd Symphony (heard here).

April 12- Hillary Hahn- This is part of our chamber music series, we don’t yet know what the music performed will be. Hillary Hahn is an outstanding Violinist!

May 17- Yo-yo Ma with CSO Musicians. Again from our chamber music series, and again the music is undetermined. Chamber concerts feature the Viola prominently.

May 28/30- Clyne and Beethoven. Premier of new Violin Concerto! New works for strings tend to demand creative liberties from the soloist, something you don’t see with traditional concertos.