Sons For Viola: Fairy Tale Pictures [CD]

"If you happen to come to Frankfurt, especially in the first half of winter, please let me know. I would also come, either inviting Muhlfeld or bringing a viola part - for two clarinet sonatas that I would like Mrs. Schumann to hear. The unpretentious pieces would not disturb our comfort - but it would be nice!" This is what the 61-year-old Johannes Brahms wrote to his friend, the violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, on October 14, 1894. Even this brief note indicates the composer's early intention to have his two sonatas, Op. 120, performed alternatively by a wind instrument or the viola. Proving that these works are much more than 'unpretentious', Salzburg violinist and violist Thomas Albertus Irnberger, together with his long-standing piano partner Michael Korstick present a late new focus of Brahms's. The subsequent "Marchenbilder", Op. 113, by Robert Schumann mark another pinnacle of the viola-piano repertoire.