"Viola Sonatas Nos.1, 2 : Kashkashian(Va)R.Levin(P)"

This disc was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for "Best Chamber Music Performance."
1894 was a time of bleak despair for Johannes Brahms. Suffering from depression and creative doubts, Brahms was prepared to give up composing. The clarinetist Richard M hlfeld rallied to Brahms' aid and the creative crisis passed with the composition of two sonatas for clarinet and piano. The sonatas were admired by the great violinist Joseph Joachim and were transcribed for viola.
The sonatas stand as something of a valediction to the world of 19th-century chamber music. They are free in form and quite liberated in expression, a change from the strict classical form Brahms used in much of his chamber music. Sonata No. 1 is permeated by darkness and a sense of gloom as the viola weeps over agitated support by the piano--this autumnal spirit is the quintessence of Brahms. Sonata No. 2 is more optimistic in tone with a lovely pastoral second movement at the core of the work.
Kim Kashkashian's viola is richly expressive, perfectly capturing the dark-hued melancholy at the heart of these works. Pianist Robert Levin is the ideal foil for Kashkashian. Levin's playing is a wonderful mixture of muscular heroism and tender grace.