“Vioooooooooooola!”

Once heard, the plaintive cries of Sergiu Celibidache are not easily forgotten.

No doubt Celi would find solace, if only he could tune in for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, as Kristina Giles will perform selections from the 41 Caprices, Op. 22, by “the Paganini of the Viola,” Bartolomeo Campagnoli (1751-1827).

The program is another presented by Gotham Early Music Scene, or GEMS. GEMS is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City generally devoted to Early Music.

Giles’ recital was recorded at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue. Free concerts are held at St. Bart’s during the regular season on Thursdays at 1:15 p.m. For more information and a complete schedule of GEMS events, look online at gemsny.org.

It’s long been my ambition to do a viola show, so stick around following today’s concert broadcast for an afternoon of works written for this much-derided instrument that, as stated in Giles’ program notes, is “usually lost in the middle harmonies of orchestral and chamber music.”

We’ll hear concertos, chamber music, and more by Margaret Brouwer, Paul Hindemith, Joseph Joachim, Peter Lieberson, Bohuslav Martinu, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Of course, in my ideal world, between selections I would love to share your viola jokes. But even if I don’t (and I probably won’t), please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

You’ll find abundant prototypes at Viola Central:

https://violacentral.com/best-viola-jokes/

BONUS! Bill McGlaughlin will share selections from “Harold in Italy” – composed at the request of Niccolò Paganini, who wanted to show off his new viola – as part of his week-long survey of the works of Hector Berlioz on “Exploring Music,” tonight at 7.

In the meantime, we’ll give the viola some love, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.