Marie-Joséphe Jude and Yuri Gandelsman - Brahms/ Schumann

"This excellent disc from the French label Lyrinx offers two sets of extraordinary writing for the viola from Brahms and Schumann…the SACD multichannel recording places the two players in a perfect representation of the recorded acoustic. This is a near-reference quality disc; you are in the room with the two players…Highly recommended." – Tom Gibbs, Audiophile Audition, www.audiophileaudition.com

In his Treatise on orchestration Berlioz emphasized the viola's "sad and passionate sound," its "deep melancholy." But because it appears in the shadow of the dazzling, violin and is not an instrument requiring a particularly virtuosic technique, because of its discreet, slightly dimmed tone that never aims at brilliance, the viola does not have a very extensive repertoire to its name. What it does have, however, is of consistently high quality, as the program on this album testifies.

Brahms, at the age of 61, composed scores that would highlight the close relationship between the piano and viola.