Roman Viazovskiy - Viamarin (2021)

The well-known guitar virtuoso Roman Viazovskiy is back after ten years with an album of his favorites. In Viamarin's very personal booklet text, in which he tells his own story with each of the recorded pieces, Viazovskiy explains the background to his recording: “In 2011 I got focal dystonia in my left hand. In music circles we know that in most cases this is the end. After almost all known therapies had also failed me, I was about to say goodbye to the guitar. But I just couldn't take that step. It would have been treason. […] Two and a half years ago, after a long search, I found a way to play again by developing a new playing technique for myself. That doesn't mean I beat focal dystonia. No, it's still there in all its glory. But I've learned to play in such a way that she has little or no control over me. And this recording proves it. "
In addition to hits from modern guitar literature, the album also features the first recording of the eponymous suite "Viamarin" by the Russian-German composer Konstantin Vassiliev. Vassiliev (* 1970), friend and long-time companion of Viazovskiy, wrote a homage to Roland Dyens. Because Dyens had Viazovskiy 2013 at the Int. Heinsberg guitar festival and competition, which Viazovskiy directs, promised to write a piece for his comeback. Since he died in 2016, it never happened again. In Vassiliev's work, however, his spirit lives on and on.