Hoffmeister - Concerto in D Major for Viola and Orchestra

By Franz-Anton Hoffmeister

You get the sheet music (which I already had) and a recording with soloist (which you can find on youtube) and you get the same recording without the soloist. So you get all the speed changes of the soloist, sometimes just rushing, and starting the second movement far too slow...

and than speeding up to get to the right temo. But more annoing is that you also get the pianissimos in the orchestra when it accomanies the solo art so you are not able to hear the orchestra when you play along, which defeats the purpose of music minus one. The cadenza in the first movement should have be omitted as well, it is not possible to finish at the same time as the soloist. The best thing you can say about it is the price which is really reasonable. Usable for study with mute, but not for any other purpose.

The background CD music can be extremely hard to hear and follow along with even with a CD player's volume up really loud. Also, there are some inconsistencies with the sheet music and other publishers in the parts.

The Hoffmeister Concerto is the best early Viola Concerto there is. The lyrical melody, blazing theme, and majestical cadenza add to the excellence of this piece. This spectacular member of the limited selection of viola solos is one of my favorites. Any college-level violist should own this piece for...

the prodigy.