David Felberg to perform with viola d’amore during Placitas concert
Violinist David Felberg bought a viola and designed a program. The Albuquerque native, co-founder of Chatter, a chamber music group, and Santa Fe Symphony concertmaster will perform on the solo violin and his new viola d’amore as part of the Placitas Artists Series on Sunday, Jan. 21, at the Placitas Presbyterian Church.
“There were contemporary repertoire that I wanted to perform,” Felberg said.
The viola features seven strings with seven sympathetic strings, in a kind of extended violin, Felberg said.
“If you’re playing an open C sharp, it gives it a very sweet, ringing quality,” he said. “Historically, there’s not that much repertoire. It was used in the Baroque era — Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi. It wasn’t used by that many people, so it never really caught on.”
Felberg bookended the program with two chaconnes, opening with a short, sweet one by the Italian composer Giuseppe Colombi and ending with the monumental “Chaconne for Solo Violin” by Bach. In between, the musician will explore different takes on the Baroque suite, multi-movement works comprised mainly of dance pieces. He’ll open with a suite for the viola d’amore in A major by German organist and composer Christian Petzold. In this piece, all the strings are tuned to A major in a glowing sound. He’ll next turn the corner, picking up his violin, performing the “X Suite” by American composer (and newest cellist with the Kronos Quartet) Paul Wiancko. Written in 2019, the piece nods to the Baroque suite in its movements, yet the composer wrote in a contemporary idiom, both harmonically and sonically.
“It’s sort of a modern version of the Baroque suite,” Felberg said.
American composer Kevin Puts’ “Arches” for solo violin follows. Cast in five uninterrupted movements, its alternating caprices contrast with singing arias, forming a musical arc.
The muscular “Partita” in
D minor by Bach ends the program with five different dance movements.
Violinist Joshua Bell has said the (closing) chaconne is “not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It’s a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect.”
”It’s a big movement for violinists to play,” Felberg said. “I feel very fortunate to have learned it at a young age. It’s very demanding.”