This new release includes Brahm’s complete music in which the viola plays a solo part: the two Sonatas Op. 120 and the 2 Gesange Op....

This new release includes Brahm’s complete music in which the viola plays a solo part: the two Sonatas Op. 120 and the 2 Gesange Op. 91, for alto, viola and piano. Brahms’ two viola sonatas are masterworks of his late style: the perfect handling of the sonata form sets the structure for autumnal reminiscenses and melancholic introspection, alternated by either passionate or tender interludes. These songs are performed beautifully by violinists Luca Sanzo and pianist Maurizio Paciariello, who made an excellent recording of Hindemith’s Viola Sonatas for Brilliant Clssics. A special treat is the voice of Sara Mingardo in the Zwei Gesange, one of the foremost altos of today, who sung with Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun-Chung, Rinaldo Alessandrini.