Directory
Viola
to hear Alexander Besa and Jirina Kolmanová (piano) playing
George Enescu's Concertpiece for viola and piano
Alexander Besa was born in 1971 into an Italo-Czech family of musicians. He began to play the violin at the age of seven, and in 1985 was admitted to the Brno State Conservatory, where he studied in the viola class of Prof. Alois Morán. In 1991 he completed his studies with distinction, and was awarded the prize for best graduate.
While still at the conservatory, he won a scholarship, and was invited to join the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, where he took part in Masterclasses with Yehudi Menuhin, and studied with Professors Alberto Lysy, Johannes Eskaer and Paul Coletti. Alexander Besa was already appearing regularly as a viola soloist with the Camerata Lysy, and after graduating with the Diploma for Viola and Chamber Music in 1993, he completed his musical studies with Prof. Christoph Schiller at the Music Academy in Basel, becoming the first violist to gain the coveted Soloist's Diploma in 1996.
Alexander Besa won the Beethoven viola competition in 1994, the Czech Conservatories' competition in 1987 and the "H. Schäeuble" viola competition in Lausanne in 1995. He was awarded the Morris Madrell Prize at the "Lionel Tertis" viola competition in the Isle of Man in 1997, and became a Laureate of the "Prague Spring" quartet competition in 1988.
As a chamber musician Alexander Besa has performed with such artists and ensembles as Ana Chumachenko, Heinz Holliger, Magdalena Kozená, Alberto Lysy, Marie Louise Neunecker, Thomas Zehetmaier, the Aria Quartet, the Pellegrini Quartet, the Wallinger Quartet and the Zehetmair Quartet. In 1990 he co-founded The Serenade String Trio, which has since won two major Italian chamber music competitions: the "Caltanissetta" in 1991 and the "Trapani" in 1992. The Trio members were Laureates of the Florence "Vittorio Gui" in 1993. He has been violist in the Ensemble Tiramisú since 1996, with which he has made several recordings on original romantic instruments, using gut strings and original tuning.
Alexander Besa divides his time between the careers of soloist, chamber and orchestra player. He has appeared with many leading orchestras, and has given recitals and concerts in most European countries, as well as in Canada and the U.S.A.. At present he lives in Switzerland, where he is Principal Viola in Camerata Bern and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
As a soloist he has a repertoire of more than 30 compositions for viola and orchestra, which he has interpreted with many Swiss and Czech ensembles, including Camerata Bern, Camerata Lysy, the Basle Symphony and Radio Orchestras, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Kurpfalz Chamber Orchestra of Mannheim, the Talich Chamber Orchestra of Prague, the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Košice, the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra of Ostrava, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra of Zlín, the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra and the Moravian Chamber Orchestra.
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Repertoire for solo viola and chamber or symphony orchestra.
| K. Atterberg: | Suite Op.19, N.1, for violin and viola |
| J. S. Bach: | Branderburg Concerto N.6, in B-flat Major, BWV 1051 for two violas |
| B. Bartók: | Viola Concerto Op.posth. (Version T. Serly) |
| Viola Concerto Op.posth. (Version N. Dellamaggiore / P. Bartók ) | |
| H. Berlioz: | Harold in Italy Op.16 |
| M. Bruch: | Concerto Op. 89, in E-flat Major for viola and clarinet |
| Romance Op. 85 | |
| Kol nidrei Op.47 | |
| B. Britten: | Lachrymae Op. 48, "Reflection on a song of J. Dowland" |
| W. Burkhard: | Viola Concerto |
| H. Busser: | Appassionato Op.34 |
| H. Casadesus | / J. Ch. Bach: Viola Concerto in C Minor |
| G.F. Händel: Viola Concerto in B Minor | |
| G. Dávid: | Viola Concerto |
| C.D. von Dittersdorf: | Viola Concerto in F Major |
| Symphony Concertante in D Major, for viola and double-bass | |
| C. Forsyt: | Viola Concerto in G Minor |
| A. Glazunov: | Viola Concerto |
| M. Haydn: | Concerto in C Major, for viola and harpsichord |
| J. Francaix: | Rhapsodie for viola and small orchestra |
| P. Hindemith: | Trauermusik |
| Viola Concerto "Der Schwanendreher" | |
| Kammermusik No. 5, Op.36, č.4 | |
| Konzertmusik | |
| F.A. Hoffmeister: | Viola Concerto in D Major |
| G. Holst: | Lyric Movement for viola and small orchestra |
| J.N. Hummel: | Phantasy in G Minor |
| R. Jullien: | Concertpiece Op.19 |
| B. Martinů: | Rhapsody - Concerto |
| Divertimento - Serenade No.4, for violin and viola | |
| D. Milhaud: | Viola concerto Op.108, No.1 |
| W.A. Mozart: | Symphony Concertante KV 364, in E-flat Major for violin and viola |
| N. Paganini: | Sonata Op.35, per la Grand Viola |
| K. Penderecki: | Concerto per viola ed orchestra (1983) |
| A. Rolla: | Viola Concerto N.41 in F Major |
| Rondo for viola and orchestra | |
| M. Rosza: | Viola Concerto |
| H. Schaeuble: | Viola Concerto |
| A. Stamic: | Viola Concerto in B-Flat Major |
| K. Stamic: | Viola Concerto in D Major, Op.1 |
| Symphony Concertante in D Major, for violin and viola | |
| R. Strauss: | "Don Quixote" Op.35 |
| G. Tartini: | Viola Concerto in D Major |
| G.P. Telemann: | Viola Concerto in G Major |
| Concerto in G Major, for two violas | |
| J.K. Vaňhal: | Viola Concerto in C Major |
| A. Vranický: | Concerto in C Major, for two violas |
| W. Walton: | Viola Concerto |
| C.M. von Weber: | Andante and Rondo Ungarese Op.35 |
| R. Vaughan Williams: | Flos Campi for viola, chorus and orchestra |
| K. F. Zelter: | Viola Concerto in E-flat Major |
Contact details and further information
Artimus Music Management Ltd.Thamova 28, CZ - 186 00 Prague 8,
Czech Republic
Phone/Fax +420 2 2323 204
E-mail Ladislav Svestka, Artimus Music Management
For further details, see www.artimus.cz/e-besa.html