Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 & Viola Sonata, Op. 147 Veit Hertenstein & Minze Kim

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 (Arr. V. Hertenstein for Viola & Piano):
• 1 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 (Arr. V. Hertenstein for Viola & Piano): I. Allegro non troppo 12:25
• 2 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 (Arr. V. Hertenstein for Viola & Piano): II. Allegro 03:36
• 3 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 (Arr. V. Hertenstein for Viola & Piano): III. Largo 09:09
• 4 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 (Arr. V. Hertenstein for Viola & Piano): IV. Allegro 04:14
• Viola Sonata, Op. 147:
• 5 Viola Sonata, Op. 147: I. Moderato 10:19
• 6 Viola Sonata, Op. 147: II. Allegretto 07:40
• 7 Viola Sonata, Op. 147: III. Adagio 14:35
• Total Runtime 01:01:58

Info for Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 & Viola Sonata, Op. 147

Abstract instrumental works (that is to say, those which had no “programme” in „Socialist Realism”.) were considered undesirable or - as in the case of chamber music - tainted by Western decadence. Shostakovich had won no friends within the cultural establishment with compositions of this nature. In two Pravda articles of 1936, Shostakovich was accused of “left-deviant” and “petit-bourgeois decadent” attitudes. By that time, he had already composed his Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in D minor op. 40; written in 1934, this work was premiered in Moscow the same year. It is essentially the commanding chamber work of Shostakovich’s early years. In this recording, the sonata is heard in the version for viola and piano for which the viola part was arranged by Veit Hertenstein. Already seriously ill, he wrote his last work, the Sonata for Viola and Piano op. 147, one month before his death. It is regarded by many as his own encounter with Death. Shostakovich knew that he was about to die. Nor did he live to see his final work premiered.

Veit Hertenstein, viola
Minze Kim, piano

Veit Hertenstein
One of the most exciting musicians on his instrument to emerge in years, German violist Veit Hertenstein plays with “admirable precision, dedication and strong musical expression“ (Augsburger Allgemeine 2013) as well as “maturity, technique, thoughtful musicianship, and a tone of dark honey” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer 2013).

Mr. Hertenstein has been invited to the Marlboro Music Festival, the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy, the Viola Space Festival Tokyo, Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and the Verbier Festival, where he was awarded the “Henri Louis de la Grange” viola prize. He has also been several times invited to the La Folle Journée Festival in Nantes and Tokyo. As a chamber Musician he collaborated with Trio Wanderer, Modigliani and Ysaye Quartets, Brigitte Engerer, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg String Quartet) and with Midori.

In the United States Mr. Hertenstein performed in concert halls such as The Merkin Hall, New York, The Kenendy Center in Washington D.C. after winning First prize as well as eight performance prizes in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions 2011 in New York City. Mr. Hertenstein has won several prestigious competitions. In 2009 he was the first violist to win the New Talent Competition of the European Broadcasting Union in Slovakia founded by Yehudi Menuhin, which was followed by world-wide radio broadcasts. He was a prize-winner of the first Tokyo International Viola Competition 2009. In 2007 he was the first violist to win First Prize at the Orpheus Competition in Zurich, Switzerland. Pro Helvetia commissioned a Viola Concerto by Swiss composer Nicolas Bolens which was premiered in Geneva 2014.

Born in Augsburg, Germany, Mr. Hertenstein began studying the violin and piano at the age of 5 and switched to the viola when he was 15. In 2009 he graduated with distinction from the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, where he worked with violist Nobuko Imai. He also has been artistically influenced by György Kurtag, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Yuri Bashmet and Kim Kashkashian.

In 2011 Mr. Hertenstein became the principal violist of the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. In April 2016 30 years old he became a professor for viola at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany.

Booklet for Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 & Viola Sonata, Op. 147