Sonata-Poème for solo viola [1987]

Michael
Kugel is a Russian viola virtuoso, who moved to Belgium in 1996. He
is also renowned as a teacher and Dana Zemtsov studied with him. He
has enriched the viola repertoire with numerous transcriptions and a
number of original works. His Sonata-Poème
is a
one-movement power play that throbs with dark energy driven forward
by the motto theme announced in the first bars – a potent
demonstration of the range and power and colour of his instrument.
There are places where the double-stopping is so perfectly tuned, so
varied in colour and with such considerable distances in the
intervals between the notes that you will look around to see where
the orchestra is hidden.