The butt of musicians’ jokes, the viola is often overlooked as a solo instrument. Not quite as high as a violin, and nowhere near as low as the cello, the viola’s most common function is to pad out harmonies or provide accompaniment. But in the right hands, the viola has an exquisitely mellow, unusual timbre. In Bel Canto: The Voice of the Viola, violist Antoine Tamestit and pianist Cédric Tiberghien redress the balance, performing beauties from the wealth of nineteenth-century French repertoire. French Romanticism represents an important watershed in the instrument’s history. In 1848, a specialised viola program was introduced at the Paris Conservatoire.

Although a violinist by trade, Franco–Belgian composer Henri Vieuxtemps possessed a penchant for the viola, and his compositions for the instrument feature. The final Capriccio for solo viola is almost Bachian in style, with its harmonic language and frequent use of double stops, but the beautiful, lugubrious melody is undeniably French, and emphasises the unique sonorities of the viola. Tamestit’s interpretation of all repertoire presented here is virtuosic and expressive, matched equally by Tiberghien.

A wonderful and unusual chamber music recital disc.

Alexandra Mathew