This recording earned a 2021 Grammy award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for violist Richard O'Neill in the Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra of Christopher Theofanidis. Indeed O'Neill, lately of the Takács Quartet, steps confidently into a solo role with a notably warm performance of Theofanidis' concerto, originally written for Kim Kashkashian. In truth, the nomination could probably have gone to either soloist here; Theofanidis' Violin Concerto was composed for Sarah Chang but reworked according to ...
Read More
This recording earned a 2021 Grammy award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for violist Richard O'Neill in the Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra of Christopher Theofanidis. Indeed O'Neill, lately of the Takács Quartet, steps confidently into a solo role with a notably warm performance of Theofanidis' concerto, originally written for Kim Kashkashian. In truth, the nomination could probably have gone to either soloist here; Theofanidis' Violin Concerto was composed for Sarah Chang but reworked according to suggestions from the present violinist, Chee-Yun, and the result is a virtuoso idiom, flawlessly executed, of a sort rarely encountered in contemporary music. Theofanidis is a crowd-pleasing composer with a gift for Romantic lyricism that's saved from a backward gaze by considerable rhythmic subtlety and flexibility, and the Albany Symphony under conductor David Allan Miller captures its deliberate manner. Theofanidis' compositions have an impressive record of programming by major symphony...
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.