Diyang Mei (viola)
Biography, Audio/Video, Discography, Photos, Concerto repertoire, Programmes
https://www.diyangmei.com
Biography
“The instantaneous grip, the electrifying playing style throughout, the logical phrasing, the rhythmic stability, and the staggeringly accurate intonation characterized all of Diyang Mei’s performances.”
Harald Eggebrecht, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Diyang Mei is the 1st principal violist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2022 and holds a guest professorship at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. Since his brilliant success in 2018 at the coveted ARD International Music Competition, where he won first prize in the viola category, the Audience Award and several special prizes, Diyang Mei has made great strides in his international career. However, he has also won numerous first prizes in previous years, including at the 52nd International Instrumental Competition for Viola in Markneukirchen (2017), the International Max Rostal Music Competition for Viola in Berlin (2015), the Kulturkreis Gasteig Music Prize for Strings in Munich (2015), the 19th International Brahms Music Competition for Viola in Austria (2012), the IVC Young Artist Competition in Rochester (2012) and the 10th International Viola and Violoncello Competition in Villa de Llanes, Spain (2008).
Since 2018, Diyang Mei has been supported as a BBT Artist by the London Borletti-Buitoni Trust, which has also supported Nicolas Altstaedt, Gautier Capuçon, Veronica Eberle, Sol Gabetta, Vilde Frank, Antoine Tamestit and Kathia Buniatishvili, among others.
From 2019 to 2022, he was principal viola of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a soloist, Diyang Mei has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, the Black Forest Music Festival and the Mozart Festival in Würzburg, among others.
Highlights in 2024 include his solo appearances with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie under the direction of Brett Dean and with the China Philharmonic Orchestra at the National Centre for the Performing Arts under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach.
As a sought-after chamber musician, Diyang has already performed with renowned musicians and ensembles such as Sir András Schiff, Frans Helmerson, Emmanuel Pahud, Albrecht Mayer, Sabine Meyer, Christoph Prégardien, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrández, the Belcea Quartet and the Berlin Baroque Soloists, with whom he went on a major tour of China in 2023.
In 2024 two CDs with Diyang Mei as a soloist have been released: 1) Mozart Viola Concerto & Sinfonia Concertante recorded with the Berliner Barock Solisten (Sony Classical) and 2) Viola Concertos by Bowen and Walton, recorded with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie under the baton of Brett Dean (SWR Music/Naxos).
In 2019, Diyang Mei released his first solo album dedicated to the Chaconne and Passacaglia genres and works by Bach, Biber, Hindemith, Britten and Ligeti. His second album ‘Viola a L’Ecole de Paris’ with works for viola and piano by Cherepnin, Harsani, Tansman and Mihalovici followed in 2022 on the CAvI Music label (a Deutsche Grammophon company).
The musician plays an Antonio Mariani viola (Pesaro, ca. 1646), generously loaned by a member of the Stretton Society.
„Mei produced a reading [of Bartok’s Viola Concerto at the 2018 ARD competition] that was clear-sighted, outgoing and thoroughly enjoyable. As he had shown in the commissioned piece, he is an imaginative interpreter. In his hands the opening theme wandered like a lost soul, full of desolate, keen-edged beauty; elsewhere he delved into the darker, aggressively rhythmic passages with thrilling tenacity. The central Adagio religioso was as sweetly yearning as one could desire and, by the end of the piece, the listener had the impression of a player who might just have that intangible quality of an influential voice, perhaps even a new advocate for the viola.“
Chloe Cutts, The Strad, January 2019
Audio/Video
Discography
Concerto repertoire
J.C. Bach
Concerto for Viola in C minor
B. Bartók
Concerto for Viola
B. Britten
Lachrymae Op. 48
M. Bruch
Romance in F major, op. 85
E. Elgar (arr.)
Concerto for Cello in E minor (for Viola)
G.F. Handel
Concerto for Viola in B minor, op.6/12
P. Hindemith
“Der Schwanendreher”, Konzert für Viola & Kammerorchester
F. A. Hoffmeister
Concerto for Viola in D major
J.N. Hummel
Fantasie in E flat major, op.18
Potpourri op.94
W.A. Mozart
Sinfonia concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major K. 364
N. Paganini
Sonate per la Grand Viola
A. Schnittke
Concerto for Viola
Monologue for Viola and Strings
C. Stamitz
Concerto for Viola in D major op.1
Takemitsu
A string around autumn
G.Ph. Telemann
Concerto for Viola in G major
W. Walton
Concerto for Viola
C.M. Weber
Andante e rondo Ungarese
C.F. Zelter
Concerto for Viola in E flat major
Programme
Viola (Diyang Mei), Clarinet (Sérgio Pires), Piano (Kosuke Akimoto)
Program 1
W.A. Mozart
„Kegelstatt-Trio“ in E flat Major K 498″
R. Schumann
Märchenerzählungen Op.132
Intermission
Max Bruch
Pieces for clarinet, viola and piano Op.83 no.1-8
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Program 2
W.A. Mozart
„Kegelstatt-Trio“ in E flat Major K 498″
J. Francaix
Trio for clarinet, viola and piano (1990)
Intermission
R. Clarke
Duo for clarinet and viola
M. Bruch
8 Pieces for clarinet, viola and piano, Op.83
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Viola/Piano
Program 1
L.v. Beethoven
Nocturne for Viola and Piano in D major Op. 42
H. Vieuxtemps
Sonata for viola and piano in B flat major
Pause
M. de Falla
Siete canciones populares españolas
S. Prokofiev
Romeo and Juliet
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Program 2
F. Schubert
Sonata in a minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821
P. Hindemith
Sonata Op. 25 no. 4
Pause
R. Schumann
Märchenbilder Op. 113
P. Hindemith
Sonata 1939
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Program3 (with pianist Julius Asal)
R. Clarke
Two pieces for viola and piano
I. Passacaglia II. Morpheus (13‘)
J. Brahms
Sonata for piano and viola E flat major, Op. 120/2 (22‘)
Intermission
J. Brahms
3 Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117 (15‘)
R. Clarke
Sonata for viola and piano
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Program 4
J.N. Hummel
Sonata for viola and piano Op. 5 no. 3
Clarke
Sonata for viola and piano
Pause
Shostakovich
Sonata for viola and piano Op. 147
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Program 5
Clara Schumann
3 Romances Op. 22
Dobrinka Tabakova
Pirin for solo viola
Dobrinka Tabakova
Suite in Jazz Style for viola and piano
Intermission
Rebecca Clarke
Morpheus for viola and piano
Rebecca Clarke
Sonata for viola and piano
Encore: Maria Theresia
from Paradise – Siciliene
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Program 6 (with the pianist Julius Asal)
“Perspectives”
H. I. F. Biber
Passacaglia in g minor for viola (8‘)
D. Shostakovich
Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 147 (36‘)
Intermission
D. Scarlatti
Three Sonatas for piano (8‘)
D. Shostakovich
Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 40 (arr. for viola and piano) (25‘)
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