Viva Viola

The addition of a second viola lifts the string quartet into a symphonic stratosphere, as we shall hear with Mendelssohn’s impassioned Second Quintet, Op. 87, and Dvorak’s sublime Third Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 97. Between these two blockbusters, the piano offers an amuse-bouche with selections from Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano by the arch-iconoclast John Cage. Bid midwinter doldrums adieu with this infusion of daring and delight...