* a work in progress album *
Armida Records 11-00000
artists: MARGHERITA DI GIOVANNI viola | MATTEO FOSSI piano
NINO ROTA (1911 – 1979)
Intermezzo for viola and piano (The Viola in My Life)
Project Overview
The Viola in My Life is a project conceived by Margherita Di Giovanni and Matteo Fossi, entirely devoted to some of the greatest masterpieces written for viola and piano from the late eighteenth century to the present day. The title is drawn from the celebrated cycle by Morton Feldman, whose poetic vision and inward sense of listening inspire the project as a whole: the viola as an intimate voice, poised between light and shadow, between memory and presence.
The program traces a coherent historical and aesthetic journey, connecting diverse languages and styles through the vocal quality of the viola—its ability to embody a lyrical, meditative, and deeply human dimension of sound.
The repertoire ranges from late-Classical models such as Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Carl Reinecke, through major twentieth-century figures like Paul Hindemith, Ernest Bloch, and Nino Rota, to the modern sensibilities of Dmitri Shostakovich, the spiritual refinement of Tōru Takemitsu, and the rarefied sound world of Morton Feldman.
Concept and Artistic Vision
The project takes shape as a “Work in Progress”, a concept understood not only as a production method but as an aesthetic principle: the gradual construction of a sonic journey—open, evolving, and reflective—where each composer represents a stage in an ongoing exploration of the viola’s expressive landscape.
Each recording session will focus on a specific thematic nucleus (for example: The Romantic Viola, Inner Modernity, Voice and Silence), aiming to present not a mere anthology, but a coherent narrative of the relationship between viola and piano across centuries.
Alongside the central pillars of the repertoire, the project will also feature lesser-known or rarely performed works, some virtually unrecorded, whose remarkable compositional quality deserves rediscovery and renewed attention.
Purpose and Perspective
The Viola in My Life is more than a documentation of repertoire: it seeks to create a poetic trajectory, revealing the viola as an instrument of reflection and remembrance, of melancholy and vision.
Through the continuous dialogue between Margherita Di Giovanni’s viola and Matteo Fossi’s piano, the project offers a personal and unified reading of two centuries of music—where sound becomes narrative, and the intimacy of chamber music opens onto a universal dimension.
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Recorded at the Classical Recording Studio – Perugia (Italy)
Sound Engineer and Recording Producer: Luca Ricci
Editing: Luca Tironzelli