Martinů/Hindemith – Works for Viola (2018)

Hindemith and Martinů make for a well-matched pair in this viola disc, with a sonata and a larger-scale work apiece. The former’s Sonata, Op.11 No.4 was his first for his own instrument, at which he excelled as an international soloist and chamber player, and it has retained its place as one of his most outgoing and splendidly conceived sonatas. The excellent Czech player Kristina Fialová plays it with acumen and intelligence, not least in the second movement’s theme and variations, which is wittily and athletically pointed, and in the deft dynamics of the finale. Here her restrained refinement is matched by flowing elegance and pianist Martin Levický plays with comparable assurance...