Complete sonatas and works by Linus Roth / José Gallardo

Linus Roth / José Gallardo

Complete sonatas and works

Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917256727
Catnr: CC 72567
Release date: 24 March 2013

CD (3 items)

Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917256727

Catalogue number
CC 72567

Release date
24 March 2013

""The German violinist Linus Roth and the Argentine pianist José Gallardo bring his complete works for violin and piano.""

Het Parool, 14-11-2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

A special project: Linus Roth and José Gallardo are the first to interpret Weinberg’s sonatas and works for violin and piano in a complete anthology!

Mieczysław Weinberg had an unbelievably tragic life, full of struggle and pain. As a Polish Jewish composer he flee from the Nazi regime to Russia, got imprisoned by Stalin and was saved at the last minute by his good friend and colleague Dmitri Shostakovich. He lost all his family members in concentration camps. Weinberg's compositions, often with a Jewish slant, were prohibited…

Noted German violinist Linus Roth and the Argentinean piano virtuoso José Gallardo feel a lot of compassion for this composer. It's all there in his beautiful and deeply emotional music where Weinberg put so much of his soul. As a great master of contrasts he goes from very dark, to very bright, from a fortissimo when you think the world breaks into pieces, to a pianissimo you can barely hear. In one bar there can be hope, and in the next bar: no hope!

Linus and José feel obliged and honored to be advocates for Weinberg because they think his music deserves it! Now it was time for them to record the "Complete Sonatas and Works" for violin and piano of Weinberg on a 3CD. This has never been done before! Weinberg’s repertoire has always been only partially performed and recorded, but never as complete collection. The Sonatas Nr. 2 and 6. are even never recorded before and the Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes is the only one available recording right now - it was once recorded around 40 years ago, but the vinyl is not available to buy any more.

Worstelingen met het Naziregime, hoorbaar in muziek
Dit album is een bijzonder project van violist Linus Roth en pianist José Gallardo. Het is een complete collectie van het repertoire van Mieczysław Weinberg. Dit is zeer uniek; hiervoor is zijn repertoire alleen maar gedeeltelijk uitgevoerd en opgenomen, nog nooit volledig. De opnames van de Sonates nummer 2 en 6 zijn een wereldpremière.

Weinberg leidde een tragisch leven vol strijd en pijn. Hij was een Pools-Joodse componist die naar Rusland moest vluchten voor het Naziregime. Hier werd hij gevangengenomen door Stalin en op het laatste moment gered door zijn goede vriend en collega Dmitri Shostakovich. Ondertussen waren al zijn familieleden omgekomen in concentratiekampen. Daarna werden veel van zijn composities verboden omdat ze een Joodse inslag hadden. Dit alles is voelbaar in zijn zeer emotionele muziek, waarin veel gebruik gemaakt wordt van contrasten. Van donkere tot lichte muziek, en van een fortissimo zo hard dat de wereld in stukken lijkt te breken, tot een pianissimo dat bijna onhoorbaar is. In de ene maat kan er hoop zijn, dat in de volgende maat verandert in wanhoop.

Die erste Gesamtaufnahme aller Werke für Violine und Klavier des sowjetischen-polnischen Komponisten Mieczysław Weinberg

„Ich bin ein Schüler Schostakowitschs. Auch wenn ich nie Unterricht von ihm genommen habe, so sehe ich mich doch als sein Schüler, mit Haut und Haar,“ liess der Komponist Mieczysław Weinberg über sich selber verlauten.

Die Beziehung zwischen beiden Komponisten war eng und von gegenseitigem Respekt gekennzeichnet. Weinbergs kritische Sichtweise, die in seiner Musik zum Tragen kommt, hält im Gegensatz zu Schostakowitsch doch auch eine Portion Humor bereit. In seinen ersten Violinsonaten stimmt er auch heitere Töne an und in diesen und vor allem der Rhapsodie über moldawische Themen lässt Weinberg der guten Laune ihren Lauf. Hinter dem Titel „moldawisch“ versteckte der längst politisch verfolgte Komponist jiddische Themen, die auch immer wieder in anderen seiner Werke eingearbeitet sind.

Seit 2006, als der Geiger Linus Roth den ECHO-Preis erhielt, wurde er vom "Geheimtipp" zum international anerkannten Star. Seine Karriere führte ihn auch zur Kammermusik, in der er unglaubliche Erfolge gemeinsam mit dem argentinischen Pianisten José Gallardo feiert.

Weltersteinspielung der Sonaten Nr. 2 & 6
Einzig verfügbare Aufnahme der "Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes"

Artist(s)

Linus Roth

José Gallardo

Linus Roth
Linus Roth´s talent was recognised early in his youth. When he was 12 years old, he was accepted by Prof. Nicolas Chumachenco at the Music Academy Freiburg. In 1992 he won the First Prize at the German national competition “Jugend musiziert”.

One year later, he continued his studies with Prof. Zakhar Bron at the Music Academy Lübeck, from which he graduated in 1998. Further studies followed at the Music Academy of Zurich and the Music Academy of Munich with Prof. Ana Chumachenco. During his studies he got supported intensely by Anne-Sophie Mutter and her Foundation.

As a concert soloist he has performed, amongst others, with the Orchestra of Stuttgart State Opera, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Württembergisch Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Bern
Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Orchestra SWR and Berlin, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo Napoli, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Brucknerorchester Linz, Vienna Chamber Philharmonic and Cologne Chamber Orchestra.

Conductors he collaborated with are, amongst others, Gerd Albrecht, Herbert Blomstedt, Andrey Boreyko, Frank Beermann, Dennis Russell Davies, Alun Francis, Matthias Foremny, James Gaffigan, Hartmut Haenchen, Manfred Honeck, Anu Tali and Antoni Wit.

In 2006 he received the Echo Klassik Award of the German Phonoacademy as “Best Newcomer” for his debut CD with sonatas by Brahms, Debussy, Ysaye and Mendelssohn, which was released on EMI Classics.

In October 2012 he was appointed Professor for Violin at the “Leopold-Mozart-Zentrum” of the University of Augsburg.

Linus Roth plays on the A. Stradivari “Dancla” 1703, kindly loaned by the “L-Bank, Staatsbank of Baden-Württemberg”, Germany.

José Gallardo
A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, José Gallardo started piano lessons at the age of five, at first at the Conservatory in Buenos Aires. Later he continued his studies with Prof. Poldi Mildner in the Faculty of Music at the University of Mainz, completing his diploma in 1997. Even then he realised his first love would be for chamber music.

His musical inspiration came from such artists as Menahem Pressler, Alfonso Montecino, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Sergiu Celibidache, Rosalyn Tureck and Bernard Greenhouse.

José Gallardo has won many national and international awards. Invitations followed for numerous tours and festivals, including the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, the Asiago Festival in Italy, the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Kronberg Cello Festival, and the Rheingau Music Festival.

He is very busy playing recitals and concerts, including chamber music appearances with other musicians in Europe, Asia, Israel, Oceania and South America, among them Alberto Lysy, Gidon Kremer, Chen Zimbalista, Julius Berger, Danjulo Ishizaka, Nicolas Altstaedt and many more. Concert halls he has played in include the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Hamburg Musikhalle, the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, Teatro della Pergola Florence and the Wigmore Hall London. From 1998 to 2008, he taught in the faculty of music at the University of Mainz; since autumn 2008, he has been teaching at the Leopold Mozart Zentrum in the University of Augsburg.

Linus Roth and José Gallardo have been playing together since 1998 and have performed several hundred concerts together. Their musical collaboration is documented by numerous CD recordings and radio broadcasts.

Composer(s)

Mieczysław Weinberg

Press

"The German violinist Linus Roth and the Argentine pianist José Gallardo bring his complete works for violin and piano."
Het Parool, 14-11-2015

Not an easy listening experience by any means, but a profoundly moving one.
The Strad, 06-11-2013

Niet een positief recensie
www.opusklassiek.nl, 18-10-2013

Roth and Gallardo overwhelmed the audience.
Luister, 30-9-2013

It's definately worth listening
Fono Forum, 01-9-2013

no quote not positive
Gramophone, 01-9-2013

The result is a dedicated hommage to Mieczyslaw Weinberg with technical and musical accomplishment.
Klassik Heute, 29-8-2013

"The intelligent interpretations and general accessibility of these works, is sure to win many new fans and admirers."
www.classicalmusicforyou.com, 27-8-2013

Roth and Gallardo control Weinberg lyricism and melancholy into the capillaries.
NRC Handelsblad, 08-8-2013

Artist of the month
L'Orfeo, 04-8-2013

Roth and Galardo play these compositions so striking, evident and internalized that following artists will have to compete with this recording.
ensemble, 01-8-2013

Discovery
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28-5-2013

The performances of both artists are virtuosic and commendable, while the recording quality is generally excellent
Lines that have escaped destruction, 04-4-2013

Altogether, then, these discs are remarkable. The performances of both artists are virtuosic and commendable, while the recording quality is generally excellent
linesthathaveescapeddestruction, 04-4-2013

Linus Roth and José Gallardo perform Weinberg's music with verve, passion and enthusiasm.
crescendo