SARAH KAPUSTIN (VIOLIN), ROELAND JAGERS (VIOLA) IN CONVERSATION WITH DOMINY CLEMENTS

Chamber music has been an important part of your lives for many years, including your time together with the renowned Rubens Quartet. The combination of violin and viola creates a surprisingly rich variety of sonorities and colours and you clearly relish playing in this formation. How did you come to the decision to take this duo to the highest level?

S: Over the last twelve years we have enjoyed acquainting ourselves with the small yet wonderful repertoire for our two instruments, always inserting a duo or two into our concert programs whenever possible. The COVID­19 pandemic has made us even more appreciative of our collaboration, and it sparked the wish to record some of our favourite pieces for posterity.

You both play valuable instruments made available by the Dutch National Instrument Foundation. Can you tell us a little about them and their special qualities?

S: I play on a violin built around 1690 by G.B. Rogeri from Brescia (Italy). It has a very rich and warm sound and over the years it has really become my ‘voice’, my means of expressing myself through music.
R: Although my viola is labeled an ancient Gagliano, it was actually made by Giovanni Pistucci in Naples around 1910. I have been lucky enough to play it for fifteen years now, and enjoy its warm yet clear sound every day.

This programme has been part of your concert repertoire for some time prior to this recording. Was it conceived in one go, or built up organically over time?

S: During the lockdown we started brainstorming about which pieces would fit together well, and came up with this collection of works which all feature the idea of canons and imitation and how those techniques have evolved over the past six centuries.