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Walton. Benjamin. Howells.
Various composers

Walton. Benjamin. Howells.

Mathis Rochat | BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Label: Evil Penguin
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917725926
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Catalog number: EPRC 0072
Releasedate: 03-10-25
  • This album is carefully programmed around Mathis Rochat’s personal journey with the repertoire and includes a duet with his partner, violinist Abigél Králik, adding intimacy and authenticity to the performance. 
  • Featuring the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Howard Griffiths, with whom Rochat shares a close artistic partnership, ensuring interpretive depth and cohesion.
  • Subtitled The Ballad of the Salty Sea, the album is conceived as a sonic journey inspired by Hugo Pratt’s graphic novel, adding a compelling narrative layer to the listening experience. The overarching theme connects works that span lyrical introspection (Howells), cinematic adventure (Benjamin), and established brilliance (Walton), offering variety without sacrificing artistic unity.
Franco-Swiss violist Mathis Rochat presents British repertoire for viola and orchestra, pairing William Walton’s well-known concerto with rarely recorded works by Herbert Howells and Arthur Benjamin. Featuring violinist Abigél Králik, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under the direction of Howard Griffiths, the program highlights romantic styles and lesser-known voices within the first half of 20th-century British music.

Mathis Rochat is a Franco-Swiss violist acclaimed for his expressive depth, stylistic versatility, and inventive approach to both core and transcribed repertoire. Praised for his “rich and subtle viola sound” and “marvelous poetic imaginative power” by Bieler Tagblatt, he is recognized as “one of the most promising and creative violists of his generation” by Concerti.de.

His recent recording Rachmaninoff Stories was lauded by Klassik Heute for its “generous, gorgeous tone” and “stunning virtuosity,” while BBC Music Magazine highlighted his “warm timbre” and poetic interplay. In his latest concerto release, The Strad praised his “infectiously enthusiastic playing,” noting his “crisp spiccato” and “endlessly inventive phrasing”—hallmarks of a musician who combines refined technique with interpretive daring.

As a soloist, Rochat has performed with ensembles including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Schweiz, and Norddeutsche Philharmonie, as well as the Bishkek, Timișoara, and Brașov Philharmonic Orchestras. He regularly appears at major European festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein, Tsinandali, Budapest, Reims and Gstaad Festivals.

His discography includes L’alto Parnassien, focused on Impressionist French music, Rachmaninoff Stories, featuring seven new viola transcriptions and classical concertos by J.G. Graun and a transcription of a C.P.E. Bach cello concerto, performed with Camerata Schweiz under Howard Griffiths. His latest album is dedicated to the British viola repertoire with W.Walton, A.Benjamin and H.Howells viola concertos in a collaboration with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Howard Griffiths and violinist Abigél  Králik.

A passionate chamber musician and educator, Rochat holds a professorship at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and is co-founder and Artistic Director of TARA Chamber Concerts in Brussels. He has also taught at leading international masterclasses, including the Festival Academy Budapest. 

Next season, alongside his solo engagements, he will tour the United States with the Jerusalem Quartet, further cementing his reputation as one of today’s most compelling and versatile violists.