Rolla: Viola Sonatas; Duetto; Esercizi

Jennifer Stumm (viola), Liza Ferschtman (violin), Connie Shih (piano) Naxos 8.572010 ***

This double showcase CD, part of Naxos’s Laureate Series, presents the talent of viola player Jennifer Stumm, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition 2006. And it highlights the little-known Italian composer Alessandro Rolla, who was born a year after Mozart, and lived long enough to witness the flowering of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. Rolla was a major viola virtuoso, and a longtime, hugely admired conductor at Milan’s La Scala. His writing for viola certainly showcases the ready reach – even in double stopping – of Stumm’s attractively full but soft-grained tone. The style is of the 18th rather than the 19th century, and the sonatas with piano are arrangements of works originally for viola and bass. There are no startling revelations, but Stumm makes the pieces seem perfectly conceived for viola. See url.ie/af6o