Bartholdy makes Wigmore Hall debut

A. Bartholdy swissmusic

The Swiss viola soloist Annette Bartholdy has made her debut appearance at one of London's most prestigious concert venues, Wigmore Hall.

Accompanied by British pianist Julius Drake, she played a programme of sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and Dimitri Shostakovich in a concert supported by the Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain.

“Shostakovich always admired Bach, and borrowed from him his counterpoint techniques,” says Bartholdy. “But there’s a great contrast between the two. Bach is full of spirituality and harmony, while Shostakovich is rather more sombre.”

Born in Bern in 1972, Bartholdy began taking violin lessons at the age of five, and switched to the viola when she was 15. “The viola corresponds more with my personality,” she said.

Wigmore Hall was built in 1901 by the German piano firm, Bechstein, next to its showrooms on Wigmore Street, and a performance there is considered a British “rite of passage” for talented young classical musicians.

Bartholdy has already toured extensively in Europe, the United States and Japan, and has received several international awards. A music critic for the Zurich newspaper, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, wrote after one performance: “Annette Bartholdy is ready to join the list of the great viola players of our time.”