Classical Summer Concert: Ettore Causa, Boris Berman - Vibrant Viola

Once again, the Classical Summer Concerts are delighted to present a range of world-class musicians, performing amongst the Roman gods and heroes in the Glyptotek’s atmospheric Central Hall.

What do you do if you play an instrument that does not have the same extensive solo repertoire as, for example, the piano or the violin? You borrow suitable music originally written for other instruments. The Italian-born violist Ettore Causa is an internationally sought-after soloist and chamber musician, and here he performs alongside the Russian-American pianist Boris Berman, who is especially known for his critically acclaimed recordings. Both musicians also teach at the prestigious Yale School of Music in the United States.

In 1824, Schubert wrote a sonata for a brand-new invention, a six-stringed bowed instrument that is hardly played today. It would be a shame if one of Schubert’s most beautiful sonatas were never performed, so fortunately his Sonata for Arpeggione has become a standard work for cellists, flautists—and violists alike. Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata, on the other hand, is an original work written for viola and piano—his very last composition, completed just weeks before his death in 1975.