Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Complete Works for Viola Volume 1
Trio in E flat for violin, viola and piano, Op. 40 (1865)
Viola Sonata No. 2 in E flat, Op. 120/2 (1894)
Viola Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120/1 (1894)
Mikhail Zemtsov (viola)
Daniel Rowland (violin)
Hanna Shybayeva (piano)
rec. 2021/23, Studio 150, Bethlehemkerk, Amsterdam
Challenge Classics CC720019 [70] 

I think the viola suits Brahms’ voice admirably. The dark, rich, broody tone produced on this Cinderella of string instruments gave Brahms a fertile ground on which to work in autumnal melodies and enigmatic harmonies. In this first volume of a two-record project from Challenge, violist Mikhail Zemtsov explores the chamber music for which Brahms made viola adaptations, partnering the two late sonatas with the Trio in E flat from 1865. Next year, the companion disc will include the late quintet and trio (both originally conceived for clarinet lead) as well as the two songs of Op. 91.

In 1865, Brahms was thirty-two and had just lost his mother. He began Ein deutsches Requiem that same year, the first movement of which treads sombrely with violas to the fore (Brahms excludes violins in “Selig sind, die da Leid tragen”). The year also saw the composition of his Horn Trio, Op. 40. The piece is a classic and was written for the natural horn. Brahms felt that this old instrument without valves produced the more melancholy sound he obviously wanted for this profound and sorrowful work. Much later, he reworked the trio for violin, viola and piano and this is what we hear on this record with Mikhail Zemtsov joined by friends Daniel Rowland on violin and Hanna Shybayeva on piano. 

It is a most accomplished performance of the thirty-minute work, capturing the Waldmusik aspect of the piece well and not lingering on the grief as much as some other versions. The sound is nicely balanced with space around it and the three players can all be heard clearly in their parts without any smudging. The construction of the trio is slow-fast-slow-fast. The third movement is the emotional core, an adagio mesto that can be heartbreaking in some readings. It feels quite spooky here. Zemtsov and Rowland match each other’s timbre wonderfully as they play in octaves one moment and harmonise the next. The finale by contrast is an earthy spirited hunting scene (what else? It was after all a natural horn he was writing for). I did on more than one occasion, hanker after the original horn in this revision for the viola, and feel much of the mellowness and nostalgia is missing without those open tones played on the Waldhorn. 

Many years later, when everybody had assumed Brahms had stopped composing and was settled into retirement, he was inspired to write a series of works for Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinettist of the Meiningen Court Orchestra. The two sonatas he composed were written in the keys of F minor and E flat, matching exactly the two Weber Clarinet Concerti, Brahms had heard Mühlfeld play. The sonatas are very important works for clarinettists and violists. Brahms’ viola versions are not mere downward transpositions but carefully crafted revisions with many parts rewritten, double-stopping added, and ornamentation changed.

In these works, like my colleague Richard Masters, I always turn back to the great William Primrose. Quite recently MWI reviewed his Capitol record of the sonatas in a Pristine presentation. I prefer Primrose’s earlier records. He made No.2 with Gerald Moore for HMV in 1937. It is a magical set of three 78s with playing of exquisite style and warmth. His adoption of those Kreisler-like portamenti may be a little dated now but I adore it all the same. Mikhail Zemtsov begins with the same No.2 sonata. This work in the relaxed key of E flat is fantasia-like in its first movement; there follows a scherzo and then a theme and variations bring it all to a close. Lawrence Power for Hyperion in his 2007 record (review) plays the piece in more forthright manner, but there are compensations in Zemtsov’s gentler bowing and subtle shading. He and Hanna Shybayeva are not too slow; they keep the pace up throughout. More recently Antoine Tamestit recorded the sonatas for Harmonia Mundi. I would love to hear how Timothy Ridout handles them when he gets around to recording them for the same label.

The CD closes with Sonata No. 1 in F minor. This is kaleidoscopic music of storm and rebellion one moment and graceful charm and carefree whim the next. The structural form is more traditional than its partner, however, with sonata form used properly in the first movement, a slow movement taking the form of an aria of touching simplicity, a Ländler-like third and a sonata-rondo finale. My go-to Primrose recording would be that made in America after the war for Victor. It was issued over here shortly after as HMV DB6593/5. Primrose plays with William Kapell, and they give a performance of the first movement that burns with passion and intensity. Primrose’s tone is unparalleled for its sheer beauty of light and shade. Zemtsov can’t match it, he doesn’t try. His playing and interpretation are assured nonetheless, and his first movement double-stops add the right amount of weight and dramatic effect. Hanna Shybayeva backs him up with a big, grand sound underneath (matching Kapell’s contribution on those old Victor matrices). Zemtsov is serenity itself in the lovely second movement. Shybayeva complements him with delicate arpeggios. Their finale is infectiously joyful. The three note fanfare motto, first heard on the piano and developed throughout this F major rondo is vintage late Brahms. 

Mikhail Zemtsov is a well-known teacher and concert artist, especially in the Netherlands. He and his violist wife have famous viola playing children too. His name does not appear too often in the discographies, so it was nice to hear this CD of him in Brahms, a composer with whom he obviously feels a deep affinity. I look forward to the accompanying volume in 2026.

Philip Harrison

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