Firma Melodiya presents chamber music by Johannes Brahms performed by Yuri Bashmet and Mikhail Muntian.

Two Viola Sonatas, Op.120 by Johannes Brahms, composed in 1894, signify the completion of the composer’s creative life and the epoch of German music romanticism in general.

The name of Yuri Bashmet is known to any music aficionado. A viola player, conductor, teacher and tireless public figure, he has been an active performer for almost forty years, a performer of the entire viola repertoire of academic music and an initiator of numerous works by contemporary composers.

Pianist Mikhail Muntian has been Yuri Bashmet’s constant ensemble partner (along with Bashmet’s teacher Fyodor Druzhinin, he took part in the premiere of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata). Their joint concert performances and recordings are notable for a splendid ensemble partnership, absolute integrity of performing ideas and in-depth comprehension of a musical text.

Brahms’ sonatas was recorded in 1984.