Svyatoslav Belonogov – russian musician, violist, the Concertmaster in the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (Spain)

– The project that we are working on right now can be really called a crazy attempt. For instance, there is a piece written for two violas d’amore, which I have to play alone. Moreover, the bass part (it should be played on the bass instrument of course like viola or double-bass) will be also played by me on the same instrument. We’ll see where we can get with this, nobody knows how it will sound like when it is played by one person in steps. There don’t exist many recordings like this in classical music, I remember only one by Yasha Heyfets, when he played Bach on two violins at the concert. But is seems, there haven’t been any recording made with several violas d’amore in history. In other words, this project is unique and it is a great experience.

Viola d’amore is an interesting and complicated instrument. By its nature it belongs to chamber insruments, it isn’t optimized for big halls, that’s for sure. It’s a bit difficult to play, and one should be aware of several nuances: the strings are close to each other, therefore they can contact and create additional sounds. If I play on stage, the listener doesn’t hear much of this stuff because of a distance, but in studio the mics are closer and more sensitive, the player should be very careful when recording. But what I’d like to mention is that in this studio my instrument sounds very rich and simply fabulous. I can say from my pure heart – this studio is a masterpiece, and its creators deserve respect. If feels very comfortable working in this studio. As a musician I can confirm that it is easier to play when you like the sound of your instrument, and in this studio it sounds amazing! The acoustics is just superb!