# Favorite violist?



## oogabooha

This thread is rather simple...I'm just wondering who you people hold up as your personal favorite violist. I don't have too many that come to mind, to be honest, but my favorite violist isn't even known primarily for classical music (John Cale is a fantastic violist who became well-known for his experimental work with The Velvet Underground, but he originally came to New York to study classical music and became interested in the drone/avant-garde scenes).


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## Guest

Yuri Bashmet


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Yuri Bashmet


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## MaestroViolinist

I third Yuri Bashmet.


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## quack

Yuri Bashmet is great but someone else worth hearing is Kim Kashkashian, she's made lots of interesting CDs of mostly modern music on ECM.


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## MaryG

Maxim Rysanov


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## Art Rock

quack said:


> Yuri Bashmet is great but someone else worth hearing is Kim Kashkashian, she's made lots of interesting CDs of mostly modern music on ECM.


These are the two names I was going to post.


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## Alie

As for me three of them that were already mentioned are amazing! I love viola very much and I think that's not fair it's not so popular as some other insruments...


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## Ukko

Walter Trampler.


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## millionrainbows

oogabooha said:


> This thread is rather simple...I'm just wondering who you people hold up as your personal favorite violist. I don't have too many that come to mind, to be honest, but my favorite violist isn't even known primarily for classical music (John Cale is a fantastic violist who became well-known for his experimental work with The Velvet Underground, but he originally came to New York to study classical music and became interested in the drone/avant-garde scenes).


Cale also strung his viola with metal guitar strings, so the magnetic pickup would work. If you get the remaster of his first solo album Vintage Violence, the bonus track is him doing one of his "drone" pieces, on what sounds like a viola without a pickup, more natural sounding.
Also interesting, along related lines, is Tony Conrad's minimalism boxed-set.

As far as favorite violists, I have to say Allan Pettersson, the composer. More for the "idea" that he was a violist.


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## Kopachris

Violadude. Dunno if he's the best, but since he's the only one I know (besides one in my Aural Skills class), he defaults to being my favorite.


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## perduto

Tabea Zimmermann


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