Various Composers - Russian Viola (Svetlana Stepchenko; Zoya Abolitz)

Information

Composer: Paul Juon; Alexei Gantsher; Sergei Prokofiev

• (01) Juon - Viola Sonata in D major, Op. 15
• (05) Gantsher - Sonatina in E minor, Op. 5
• (08) Prokofiev - 5 Mélodies for Violin and Piano, Op. 35b

Svetlana Stepchenko, viola
Zoya Abolitz, piano

Date: 1996
Label: Russian Disc

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul Juon (6 March 1872 – 21 August 1940) was a Russian-born Swiss composer. Juon studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Jan Hřímalý, Anton Arensky and Sergei Taneyev. He also studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin with Woldemar Bargiel. During his time in Berlin he was a composition professor, employed by Joseph Joachim. Juon's works include many sonatas, 4 symphonies, 4 string quartets, several piano trios, piano quartets and piano quintets, a sextet, 3 violin concerti, piano works and lieder, as well as a number of stage works. Several of these works have been recorded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Juon

***

Sergei Prokofiev (23 April, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous genres, he was one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas, many of which are widely known and heard. He also enjoyed personal and artistic support from a new generation of Russian performers, notably Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev

***

Svetlana Stepchenko graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire (classes of Fyodor Druzhinin). Since 1997 she has been the soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society. Currently she is the first viola of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. Stepchenko has taken part in many music festivals in Moscow, Boston, Budapest, Neustadt, and is the Artistic Director of the "Three Centuries of Russian Viola" Festival in Moscow. She has toured widely in Russia and abroad, with a repertoire includes over 60 concert programmes, ranging from early Baroque to the present day.
http://nfor.ru/en/svetlana-stepchenko/

***

Zoya Abolits was born in Moscow. She graduated from the Gnessins Music School, the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire, and the Post-Graduate Courses at the Moscow Conservatoire. She is a prize winner of international chamber music festivals in the USA (1991) and Japan (1994). In 1987-1997 she played the piano in the "Russian Viola" Duet with Svetlana Stepchenko, in 1996-2000 she played in a duet with Mikhail Adamovich. Since 2009 she has been the pianist at the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under Vladimir Spivakov, and a member of the NPR Chamber Ensemble.
http://nfor.ru/en/zoya-abolits/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!