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STAMITZ Viola Concerto no. 1
HOFFMEISTER Viola Concerto in Bb
HOFFMEISTER Viola Concert in D
Victoria Chiang, viola
Baltimore Chamber Orchestra,
Markand Thakar, conductor
NAXOS 8.572162
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HEAR THE MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO FEATURE
The present CD should demonstrate conclusively that brilliant violists do exist...A most beguiling tone [and] technical facility and intonation are all that one could wish for, plus there is a nice expressive content to her playing. These are not what you would call “historically-informed” performances, but that hardly matters considering the beauty of the playing...A delightful hour of viola playing—highly recommended.
Fanfare
It's easy to hear how Stamitz was able to move an audience to tears. Chiang's performance is equally beautiful.
Minnesota Public Radio
Chiang reveling in the moments of virtuosity; stylish and well balanced support from the Baltimore players; good sound engineering. Much recommended.
David's Review Corner
Victoria Chiang makes for a superb soloist, with no second thoughts about what technical demands there are and with the richness of tone necessary to really “sell” the viola as solo instrument.
MusicWeb International
The concertos...provide a fine opportunity for Victoria Chiang to excel in the solo role, with Markand Thakar and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra offering balanced and attractively buoyant backup....They are filled with lovely moments and are quite well played on this CD.
top rating ++++
Infodad.com
The playing is polished and always falls gratefully on the ear. A very pleasant release.
ClassicsToday.com
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PLEYEL Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola
PLEYEL Sinfonia Concertante for Two Violins
PLEYEL Violin Concerto in D Major
David Perry, violin; with Victoria Chiang, viola and Isabella Lippi violin; Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Markand Thakar, conductor
NAXOS 8.570320
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The international viola congress held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in June 2010 was uncommonly rich in highlights, but even among them the performance of Pleyel’s Symphonia Concertante in B-flat by David Perry and Victoria Chiang shone brightly…The piece had already been recorded in the 1970s by Isaac Stern and a moonlighting Pinchas Zukerman, with conductor Daniel Barenboim trying to turn it into Brahms’s Double Concerto. The present performance incurs in no such indulgence, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra being just the right size for this rather feather-weight but nevertheless beautifully crafted music. Perry and Chiang are wonderfully attuned to each other, as they have to be, since the solo parts often take recourse to what in Germany is known as “Schweineterzen” (“swines’ thirds”), with both parts locked in parallel thirds for considerably long periods. Otherwise, both players are given solo spots of the “anything you can do, I can do higher” kind, which they audibly relish. The two-movement violin/viola piece is by some way the shortest on this CD, which makes it all the more enjoyable. In spite of a touching slow movement, the one for two violins seems to go on for just that bit too long and without the tonal contrast offered by the viola’s presence. Especially, let it be added, when it is graced by Ms. Chiang’s nicely dark, slender tone. .
Journal of the American Viola Society
 ROSLAVETS First Viola Sonata
ROSLAVETS Second Viola Sonata
SHOSTAKOVICH Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147
Victoria Chiang, viola; Randall Hodgkinson, piano
CENTAUR crc 2450
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