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| "Violist Victoria Chiang and pianist Rita Sloan gave a New
York-class recital at the Houston Fine Arts Center. From the opening
bars of Bach's Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D major to the
concluding Viola Sonata Op. 11, No. 4 by Paul Hindemith, her playing
was notable for its sheer size and dusky beauty. The Bach was remarkable
for Chiang's flowing legato and flawless execution, while the
short Romance for Viola and Piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams proved
vigorously rhapsodic. The 18-minute Hindemith sonata had all the
composer's familiar traits-complex late-Romantic variations,
lovely melodies and technical complexity. Chiang's energy kept
the music vibrant. The heart of the recital was Dmitri Shostakovich's last work, the Viola Sonata of 1975, the year of his death. Chiang handled all the chromatics and double stops with ease, enabling her to probe the sonata's anguished depths. After the sardonic second movement, the highlight of the evening was the Adagio finale with its quote from Beethoven and moving evocation of a ruggedly barren landscape, truly the music of a man worn out by political oppression and ill health but a defiant artist to the end." --Denver Post "Violist Victoria Chiang, with pianist Rita Sloan and flutist Robert Bush, was presented by the Guild of Composers in December in a 20th century program, including two premieres: a romantically tuneful sonata written in 1926 by the obscure Russian composer Nikolay Roslavets, and Daniel Plante's dissonant, difficult Duo of 1994. Both were played with great technical assurance and affinity for the music." --Strings magazine "Chiang poured out a wonderfully deep, communicative sound." --Baltimore Sun "Victoria Chiang used her bow with great richness [in the Double Concerto for Violin and Viola by Jonathan Leshnoff], keeping the honey of the viola always articulate. Leshnoff’s concerto was complexly layered, though never dull. The interplay between brass and strings was colorful, even as the two soloists kept attention focused on their technical wizardry." --Duluth News Tribune "Chiang's performance of Telemann's concerto
was ideal. Her intonation was always perfect. Chiang ornamented
the opening
largo tastefully and coped with technical difficulties in the faster
movements with aplomb. Her phrasing was always affecting and musical.
"Speaking of excellent violists, Victoria Chiang gave a recital Sunday afternoon at Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton. She was particularly impressive in Hindemith's Sonata, Op.11, No. 4, pouring out a rich tone and bringing vibrant character to each phrase. Chiang also offered telling accounts of Brahms' E-flat major Sonata and Bach's G minor Sonata. As for William Bergsma's Fantastic Variations on a Theme from "Tristan", the rambling score could use a little more Tristan and a little less fantasy, but the performance was incisive and polished." --Florida Sun-Sentinel "Guests David Perry on violin and Victoria Chiang on viola shared the Sinfonia Concertante by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In three movements, this liquid music warmed the house, and made the evening feel very special. Perry and Chiang tossed melodies back and forth with ease." --Duluth News Tribune "The Sinfonia featured two soloists, David Perry on violin and Victoria Chiang on viola. Both have long resumes, and both are members of the renowned Aspen Ensemble, a quintet, and the experience working together in a chamber-type setting showed. Chiang and Perry played like old musical friends together and did so with an almost chamber music sound, blending so seamlessly with each other and the orchestra that sometimes it was difficult to tell where one began and the other ended. The transitions between their solos and duets and orchestral sections were nearly flawless."
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