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“Viola Virtuosa aims to demonstrate that the viola can, in addition to producing all the deep, sad notes and songful qualities attributed to it, also be an independent solo instrument. The instrument’s position, between the violin and the cello, offers us violists many opportunities to combine elements from both soundscapes and thereby to create something independent and new. This release features a number of transcriptions – not derived from a desire to take something from someone else, but because I am absolutely convinced that good music can be played in a variety of ways as long as we remain true to the spirit in which the work was originally composed. Works by both Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe and Gaspar Cassadó appear on this album, played for the first time on the viola. Ysaÿe has long fascinated me, and after featuring this work in a number of my concerts, it seemed perfectly natural to record his 4th Sonata. It was my former student Martin Moriarty who suggested the possibility of playing Cassadó on the viola, when he turned up for a lesson one day with the score of this cello suite. I was enthusiastic from the word go because the suite sounds so good on the viola and I hope that the enthusiasm we felt during the recording session is palpable. Thank you, Martin, for this great idea!” - Veit Hertenstein