Born in Mexico City, violist Dana Zemtsov has always retained a deep love for the colourful Latin-American culture. The discovery of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book One Hundred Years of Solitude, in which the vivid literary images of clouds of yellow butterflies precede a forbidden lover's arrival, inspired Dana to revisit her earliest musical memories. This led to a unique project embodying the most characteristic expression of love in Latin-American culture: the beautiful boleros presented on this album entitled Yellow Butterfly. They are so well known that practically every Spanish-speaking person can sing them by heart. With arrangements by the legendary Joan Albert Amargos and Claudio Constantini, the recording conjures the surreal atmosphere of the Americas: melancholy, roughness, poetry, vitality and joy. These 'recomposed' boleros were arranged for solo viola and a small ensemble that consists of pianist Anna Fedorova, trumpeter Angelo Verploegen, bandoneonist Claudio Constantini, double bassist Nicholas Schwartz and percussionist Andre Groen.
This program is a wonderful little treasure chest overflowing with musical gems for the viola, all composed in Holland in the twentieth century. Even more delightful is the thought that these pieces and their four composers abide in the twilight of Dutch musical life and seldom if ever come to the attention of soloists and orchestras. They spotlight a beautiful solo instrument – the viola – which is not exactly seen as the prima donna of the podium, and which usually occupies a modest place as a middle voice in the orchestra or string quartet. This is the first recording of the Concertino for viola and orchestra of Jan Koetsier.
