The viola, with its plangent tone, subtle sonority and lyrical qualities, is often overshadowed by its more brilliant-sounding sibling, the violin.
An accomplished violist himself, Frank Bridge wrote little solo music for this instrument; only the Pensiero and Allegro appassionato were published in his lifetime, the other works on this disc being the composer’s arrangements of some of his violin pieces.
Similarly, Delius’s Third Violin Sonata is heard here in an effective arrangement by the celebrated violist Lionel Tertis, the dedicatee of Bliss’s expressive Viola Sonata.
“A violist of the highest calibre”. Yuri Bashmet
“Magyar gives a most compelling interpretation...[a] marriage of youthful vigour and songful grace...Magyar and Imai are utterly convincing protagonists of all this attractive material” Gramophone Magazine, May 2010
“[Magyar] extracts a near cello-like weight of tone; in the extreme top register, the fullness and purity of the sound is remarkable; and wherever possible, she finds a lovely range of light and shade.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2010 ****
