No viola jokes here

posted 09:10 AM Thursday, October 22, 2009

By: Chip Chandler

The viola, so often a punchline among orchestra musicians, gets a well-deserved spotlight at this weekend's concerts, and we've found one of the best players in the world to help us put it front and center.

Hsin-Yun Huang (full bio) said she decided early on that she wanted to play the viola precisely because it wasn't the popular choice.

"I did not want to play the violin like everyone else so I said is there something nobody plays," she told NewsChannel 10's Larry Lemmons in a story that aired last night (read Larry's story here).

But there's just not much call for a solo violist.

As you'll read in our program notes, "viola concertos are a rare breed, something violists have always been acutely sensitive about. In all of the 19th century, only one work, Hector Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, made it into the standard repertoire. The 20th century fared somewhat better, and every new viola concerto is greatly welcome."

Hsin-Yun said she is thrilled for solo opportunities like the one offered here with Walton's Viola Concerto, which she says "captures the bittersweet temper of the viola. It's perhaps the most popular viola concerto because it is so romantic and so lush."

But being a soloist isn't her main focus.

"I realized that my true love in life is chamber music. I decided to join a quartet (in my 20s) because it's the ultimate way of making music that is true to oneself. You get to decide the repertoire, you get to decide how to play it, you get to decide how many times to play it."

"Of course, I like my own special spotlight every once in a while, , but I also like being the one in the middle who helps the violin and cello gel. The viola has a special voice in the chamber music setting. You need to be a team player – to bend and accommodate, but at the same time not lose your own voice. That’s a delicate balance."