There's very little concert literature for solo viola, but violist Paul Neubauer isn't complaining. It's been his instrument since he was a child growing up in Los Angeles, and it's taken him all over the world.
In a phone interview from his New York home, Neubauer explained how he came to play the viola: "My older brother played the violin, and my older sister played the cello, and as the youngest, I was the luckiest, because I got to play the viola."It was probably more than luck that landed Neubauer a position as principal violist with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 21. A fresh graduate of Juilliard, Neubauer was the youngest to ever hold that position. He stayed with the Philharmonic for six years, then left to concentrate on solo and chamber music work.
On Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, Neubauer will play William Walton's Viola Concerto with the Utah Symphony. Conductor Laureate Joseph Silverstein will conduct the concert, which will also include Sir Edward Elgar's "Enigma" Variations and the Haydn Symphony No. 99. (Call 533-NOTE or 355-ARTS for tickets)
Neubauer has a lot to say on the dearth of literature for solo viola. "Originally, people were not playing the viola as a solo instrument. The viola was mainly just used to play some of the filler.
"On the other hand, a lot of the great composers played the viola, like Beethoven, Dvorak and Mozart. These people played the viola, but yet, they didn't write for the viola. They wrote where the commissions were or where they could make some money."
Many 20th century composers are discovering the viola, and Neubauer is on the cutting edge of this movement. He recently premiered Joan Tower's "Wild Purple" for solo viola, and he will play this piece again at a recital Wednesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. in BYU's Harris Fine Arts's Center.
Of his choice to leave the New York Philharmonic, Neubauer says, "It was not an easy decision, but I've never regretted it." While playing in the orchestra was a steady job and very prestigious, it put a crimp in his touring schedule.
"I remember I took the Concorde once to make a Philharmonic rehearsal, because I was playing in Europe and it was the only way to get back in time," he said. "I once chartered a plane toget back in time from playing in the South somewhere. I was doing things, and it was so hectic that it was getting a little absurd."
Many of his concerts are with chamber ensembles, and Neubauer teaches at Juilliard when he's not touring."I go wherever people want to hear the viola, and I sort of work the students into my schedule. I try to be away from New York in the summer, and usually I'm not here at all." Last summer, one of his stops was The Park City Chamber Music festival.
The Walton Viola Concerto, which Neubauer will play this weekend is one of his favorites, and he recently made a recording of it due for release soon. "I would say this is one of the greatest concertos of the 20th century," Neubauer said. "It's an incredibly lush, romantic, beautiful, stunning work." Written in the 1920's, this concerto has a strong jazz influence, as well as a late Romantic feel.
If the audience this weekend requests an encore, Neubauer will improvise one. He usually bases his encore improvisation on something unique to the town he's visiting. "I think the funnest one I ever did was in Newport Rhode Island," he remembered.
"There was a fog horn going off every few seconds, so I sort of started playing a duet with it. I'd play something and stop and it would go 'HONK.' Of course you can't bring a fog horn with you."