Shostakovich is among the select band of twentieth-century composers who have brought the private voice of the viola to public attention. The very fact that his Sonata for viola and piano would seem to be the last word from his death-haunted final years gives it a very special place in the repertoire. It is coupled on this disc with the world première recording of Annette Bartholdy’s transcription for viola of his much earlier Cello Sonata of 1934, written during one of the most experimental phases of Shostakovich’s creative life.