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(More customer reviews)The Handoshkin (also spelled Chandoshkin) Concerto in C Major for Viola (and strings, or strings with flutes, or - in this case - in piano reduction) is an excellently composed work that fully displays the capabiities and beauties of tone of this wonderful instrument. There are three movements - fast, slow, faster - as is typical. The first is a bit martial in style, the second Canzona is song-like, and the third La Chasse is a hunting romp. The first and last movements make extensive use of double stops, and one minor complaint I have of this edition is that Vieland's fingerings and shift indications for these passages take a bit of translation to figure out.
While most viola teachers and many students have heard of this work, not so many actually know it; certainly not to the extent that the Teleman G Major Concerto is taught and performed. The only recording that I know of is an old one by Rudolph Barshai, first released on vinyl and now available on YouTube as an .flv file, which adds a pair of flutes to the accompaniment (not, IMHO, a good choice). Either Barshai or Vieland has made substantial changes in the recapitulation of the first movement - including the cadenza, which is much more challenging in Barshai's performance, has introduced octave shifts in the Canzona - Barshai's performance is much more ineresting and exploits the lower register to great effect in the second A section, and has modified the cadenza of La Chasse - again, Barshai's is more challenging. I would suggest that anyone wishing to study this work listen to the Barshai version and decide whether or not to make at least the octave shifts Barshai uses in the Canzona.
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