The viola is my favourite instrument: it always comes across as the voice of reason in an orchestra for reasons I can’t explain. How and why it once became the butt of various jokes is something else I can’t explain. This feeling was re-enforced when I heard this CD of (mainly) transcriptions for the instrument. 

Roger Benedict Simon Tedeschi

The Debussy Cello Sonata transcription for viola was the primus inter pares highlight. In what must be one of the most ingeniously compressed pieces ever composed, Debussy manages to express in 11 minutes what would take most other composers half an hour! This version has an attractive “sec” quality nonetheless with a spontaneous vibe. I normally regard adjectives like “elusive” and “enigmatic” as a bit of a cop-out when the reviewer can’t think of anything more precise, but in the case of the Cello Sonata, I can’t manage anything else. Surely the second movement must be the wackiest and unpredictable thing Debussy ever wrote: some passages reminded me of Webern’s pointillistic touches. 

The versions of four of the Preludes offer similar...