Bach and more

Interpreters

Nils Mönkemeyer . Viola and Direction
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

Programme

Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, in the original version for strings

Paul Hindemith
Funeral Music for solo viola and strings

Dmitri Shostakovich
Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a

and other works

“Because the viola, perhaps more than any other string instrument, floats between the different registers, it is best suited to rendering subtle tonal nuances. It comes very close to the human voice.” (Nils Mönkemeyer)

Bayerischer Rundfunk, among others, says of Nils Mönkemeyer: “The range of sounds he draws from his viola is at times outrageously unrestrained, then delicate as if through a veil, and then again perfectly straight.” What’s more, he is described as “the figurehead among violists”. The highest accolades for an artist who, despite all his success, has always remained completely open and approachable. And above all: curious. Mönkemeyer is renowned for his artistic and imaginative concert programmes, which play with contrasts and connections, bringing together the familiar with rare treasures – yet sounding as if they were cast from a single mould. He has created such a signature musical journey exclusively for this programme with the SKO, centred on what Max Reger called “the beginning and end of all music”: Johann Sebastian Bach.