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Viola Space Japan 10th Anniversary

Performances by:

Nobuko Imai, viola; Yoshiko Kawamoto, viola; Junji Suganuma, viola; Masao Kawasaki, viola; Mazumi Tanamura, viola; Sachiko Suda, viola; Shota Yanase, viola; Toho Gakuen Orchestra conducted by Koichiro Harada; Yuji Murai, clarinet; Ichiro Nodaira, piano; Kyoko Koyama, piano; Yasushi Toyoshima, violin; Noboru Kamimura, cello

BIS-CD-1379/1380

Works and Performers:

Toshio Hosokawa - Voyage VI for viola and strings (2002)
Nobuko Imai, Viola
Toho Gauken Orchestra, Koichiro Harada, Conductor

Krzysztof Penderecki - Cadenza per viola sola (1984)
Yoshiko Kawamoto, Viola

György Kurtág: Hommage à R. Schumann, for clarinet, viola and piano, Op.15/d (1990)
Junji Suganuma, Viola
Yuji Murai, Clarinet
Ichiro Nodairo, Piano

Per Nørgård - Libro Per Nobuko (1992)
Nobuko Imai, Viola

Quincy Porter - Suite for Viola Alone (1930)
Masao Kawasaki, Viola

Oedoen Partos - Yizkor (In memoriam) for viola and string orchestra (1947)
Mazumi Tanamura, Viola
Toho Gakuen Orchestra, Koichiro Harada, Conductor

György Ligeti - Sonata for Viola Solo (1991-1994)
Nobuko Imai, Viola

George Benjamin - Viola, Viola for two violas (1997)
Sachiko Suda, Viola
Kyoko Koyama, Viola

Hikaru Hayashi - Viola Sonata ‘Process’ for viola and piano (2002)
Mazumi Tanamura, Viola
Kyoko Koyama, Piano

Alfred Schnittke - Konzert zu dritt for violin, viola, cello and chamber orchestra (1994)
Masao Kawasaki, Viola
Yasushi Toyoshima, Violin
Noboru Kamimura, Cello
Toho Gakuen Orchestra, Koichiro Harada, Conductor

The following comes from the BIS Records press release materials for Viola Space.

"Great musicians have almost always felt an urge to pass on their skills and insights to a new generation. Nobuko Imai is no exception. Viola Space represents a unique contribution to music in general and to the wellbeing of the viola in particular. Bringing together the great contemporary exponents of the viola, performing newly written works for the instrument and presenting all this in a manner which generates enormous interest among music lovers is a remarkable achievement. Establishing such a manifestation so that it continues and grows for ten years is even more remarkable. The world of music owes a real debt to Nobuko Imai and her colleagues for this achievement and BIS is proud to be able to contribute to the tenth anniversary of Viola Space Japan by releasing a double CD celebrating it." - Robert von Bahr, President of BIS Records

Viola Space in Tokyo is one of the world’s most important musical festivals dedicated to the viola and the music composed for it. Founded by Nobuko Imai ­ well-known to BIS followers as well as to lovers of the viola ­ and her colleagues Masao Kawasaki and Mazumi Tanamura, it recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and BIS was invited to document some of the 150 works that have been performed over the years. The program spans over more than 70 years, and the list of composer includes Schnittke, Per Nørgård, Penderecki and Oedoen Partos. Nobuko Imai herself performs two of the most exciting works on the two discs: György Ligeti’s Sonata for Viola Solo and Toshio Hosokawa’s Voyage VI for Viola and Strings. This last piece was composed only last year, and is dedicated Nobuko Imai. It forms part of a series of concertos “in which the soloist symbolizes man while the ensemble represents the universe, nature and world that surrounds us within and without”, in the composer’s own description. Besides Nobuko Imai, six of the finest viola players in Japan (and indeed the world) perform solo works, chamber music and concertos in which the viola plays a central role. Among these a modern classic such as György Kurtág’s Hommage à R. Sch. ­ in which violist Junji Suganuma is joined by a clarinet and a piano ­ may be mentioned, as well as Viola, Viola, a constantly surprising duo by George Benjamin. This double CD is unmissable not only as a portrait of a fascinating festival but also as a documentation of the various ways the viola has stirred the imagination of contemporary composers.

From: On Releasing Viola Space - by Robert von Bahr, President of BIS Records

By its very nature the viola is a pioneering instrument. In spite of Mozart's masterpiece of a double concerto for violin and viola, it was really only in the twentieth century that the instrument came into its own as a solo voice, with the great trio of Lionel Tertis (1876-1975), Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) and William Primrose (1903-1982). Hindemith, of course, wrote his own music for the viola and naturally performed it himself. Tertis and Primrose inspired many composers to write for their instrument. Thanks to the musical gifts of these three and their belief in the possibilities of the viola as a solo instrument, the viola now has a significant corpus of solo works. Nobuko Imai has continued in this pioneering tradition and her playing has encouraged many contemporaries to compose both for her and for her instrument.