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Solo Violin Partitas
Johann Sebastian Bach

Linus Roth

Solo Violin Partitas

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Evil Penguin
UPC: 0608917722727
Catnr: EPRC 0040
Release date: 01 April 2022
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Label
Evil Penguin
UPC
0608917722727
Catalogue number
EPRC 0040
Release date
01 April 2022

"...Roth enchants above all with the elegance of his tone, which is free of all technical playing noises..."

Pizzicato, 18-4-2022
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Artist(s)
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About the album

The cycle of six solo Sonatas and Partitas by J.S. Bach is arguably one of the most powerful and most important compositions in musical history. These works have been with Linus Roth since he was nine years old, when he first learned the Gigue from the E major Partita, moving on by the age of twelve to the first Fugue in G minor to tackling at fifteen the Ciaconna, which represents a cosmos in its own right. By seventeen, Roth had finally learned the entire oeuvre for the first time and since then he is fortunate to have been able to grow as a musician through the constant and welcome challenge of interpreting these remarkable works.

Bach did not write ‘Six Solos’ on the cover of the score, but instead wrote ‘Sei Solo’ in Italian, which can have two meanings: the word ‘Sei‘ can be translated both as the number six and also as ‘You are’. ‘You are alone’ - Bach is unlikely to have left something so important to chance or to be playing a simple word game. This announcement – if it is even to be seen as a reminder from the composer to the performer - must be taken seriously and Linus has always viewed it as an invitation to interpret the music as freely as the musical text allows, which for him became a guiding principle in his quest for his own interpretation.

This recording was made during lockdown, in which all of our lives have had to be reduced to a minimum in almost every area. The chance to renew the intense preoccupation with this miraculous music in preparation for the recording was a huge privilege as it allowed Linus an escape into a spiritual freedom which helped me greatly on a personal level at this time.

Not only did Roth's teachers and the interpretations of great violinists have a huge influence on how he plays Bach, but also his preoccupation with the original text and with what is known as ‘historically informed performance practice’, in particular the experience of playing with the type of convex Baroque bow that was used in Bach’s time. Due to its bend and the different weight distribution, it has a different nature to the concave curved bow used today, which leads to a slight decrescendo phrasing where several notes are slurred together towards the tip of the bow. In Linus' opinion, the modern bow suits the modern violin better and enables a wider range of sounds, which is why he tries to translate these Baroque-style experiences to the modern bow.

While the slurs and other details in the musical text were not always adhered to in years gone by, further meticulous examinations of the text have resulted in music editions that faithfully reproduce all the details of Bach’s handwriting, yielding fascinating results.

In Bach’s hands, the Partita, a series of linked dance movements, is transformed from music with the specific purpose of entertainment into art music.

De cyclus van zes sonates en partita’s voor viool solo van Johann Sebastian Bach behoort waarschijnlijk tot de krachtigste en belangrijkste composities in de muziekgeschiedenis. Dat moet de befaamde Duitse violist Linus Roth ook gedacht hebben toen hij besloot deze cyclus op te nemen. Dit album met drie vioolpartita’s, is het tweede in de reeks van sonates en partita’s van Bach die hij gaat uitbrengen.

Deze werken horen bij Linus Roth. Hij leerde de Gigue van de E-majeur Partita spelen toen hij negen jaar was. Op zijn twaalfde ging hij door met de eerste Fuga in g mineur om op vijftienjarige leeftijd de Ciaconna - al een universum op zich - aan te pakken. Met zeventien jaar had Roth het gehele oeuvre ingestudeerd. Waarna hij het geluk had in deze muziek te kunnen groeien door de opmerkelijke stukken veelvuldig te vertolken tijdens zijn optredens.

De Partita transformeert onder de handen van Bach, van muziek als vermaak, tot kunstmuziek. De eerste Partita in b mineur is donker en melancholisch van aard. Bij elk van de vier bewegingen van deze Partita hoort een Double, op dezelfde harmonieën gebaseerd. De Courante is een barokke feestelijke dans in driekwartsmaat. Bach mengt de Franse stijl van een danssuite vakkundig met de Italiaanse virtuoze vioolstijl. De Sarabande maakt, zoals een Allemande, Courante en Gigue, deel uit van de gebruikelijke structuur van een Partita. Deze langzame dans van de b mineur Partita bouwt door de harmonieën emotionele spanning op. Tot slot een Tempo di Bourrée. Deze uitdagende jongensachtige boerendans tovert een glimlach op het gezicht. De eerste akkoorden nodigen je al uit om mee te doen. Met een Double vol dynamiek en verve besluit Bach deze eerste Partita.

De tweede Partita staat in d mineur. Het laatste deel, de Ciaccona, is een van de belangrijkste en bekendste composities van allemaal. Toen in 1720 zijn vrouw overleed, componeerde Bach de Partita voor vioolsolo in d mineur, waarmee hij zijn overleden vrouw, Anna Barbara Bach, in klank vereeuwigde. De melodieën en teksten van verborgen koralen gaan over het thema dood en opstanding.

De derde Partita, geschreven in de indringende, heldere en briljante toonsoort van E majeur, voelt of de lentezon schijnt door een net geopend raam. De andere bewegingen hebben Franse titels en zijn modieuze dansen van het Franse hof, die langzamerhand de Duitse suite verdrongen. De Loure, met zijn langzame, ceremoniële stijl wordt gevolgd door een Gavotte en Rondeau. Het speelse, frisse thema wordt zes keer herhaald, waarbij de middelste delen elk een ander karakter krijgen. Een Menuet mag natuurlijk niet ontbreken in een Franse danssuite. In deze Partita komt hij zelfs twee keer voor. Is de eerste Menuet nog enigszins elegant terughoudend, de tweede Menuet kent eerder een haastig, bijna vluchtig gevoel. De Bourée, vol echo's, wordt gevolgd door een Gigue en lijkt op de openingsprelude, met zijn levenslustige, zorgeloze karakter.

Der Zyklus der sechs Solosonaten und Partiten von J.S. Bach gehört wohl zu den mächtigsten und bedeutendsten Kompositionen der Musikgeschichte. Diese Werke begleiten Linus Roth seit seinem neunten Lebensjahr, als er zunächst die Gigue aus der E-Dur-Partita lernte, mit zwölf Jahren zur ersten Fuge in g-Moll überging und mit fünfzehn die Ciaconna in Angriff nahm, die einen eigenen Kosmos darstellt. Mit siebzehn hatte Roth schließlich das gesamte Werk zum ersten Mal einstudiert, und seitdem ist er in der glücklichen Lage, durch die ständige und willkommene Herausforderung, diese bemerkenswerten Werke zu interpretieren, als Musiker zu wachsen.

Bach schrieb nicht "Sechs Soli" auf den Umschlag der Partitur, sondern "Sei Solo" auf Italienisch, was zwei Bedeutungen haben kann: Das Wort "Sei" kann sowohl mit der Zahl sechs als auch mit "Du bist" übersetzt werden. Du bist allein" - es ist unwahrscheinlich, dass Bach etwas so Wichtiges dem Zufall überlassen oder ein einfaches Wortspiel gemacht hat. Diese Ankündigung - wenn sie überhaupt als Mahnung des Komponisten an den Interpreten zu verstehen ist - muss ernst genommen werden, und Linus hat sie immer als Aufforderung verstanden, die Musik so frei zu interpretieren, wie es der Notentext zulässt, was für ihn zu einem Leitsatz auf der Suche nach seiner eigenen Interpretation wurde.

Diese Aufnahme entstand während des Lockdowns, in dem unser aller Leben in fast allen Bereichen auf ein Minimum reduziert werden musste. Die Chance, die intensive Beschäftigung mit dieser wunderbaren Musik in Vorbereitung auf die Aufnahme zu erneuern, war ein großes Privileg, denn sie ermöglichte Linus eine Flucht in eine geistige Freiheit, die mir in dieser Zeit auf persönlicher Ebene sehr geholfen hat.

Nicht nur Roths Lehrer und die Interpretationen großer Geiger hatten einen großen Einfluss darauf, wie er Bach spielt, sondern auch seine Beschäftigung mit dem Originaltext und mit dem, was als "historisch informierte Aufführungspraxis" bezeichnet wird, insbesondere die Erfahrung, mit dem Typus des konvexen Barockbogens zu spielen, der zu Bachs Zeiten verwendet wurde. Aufgrund seiner Biegung und der anderen Gewichtsverteilung hat er eine andere Beschaffenheit als der heute verwendete konkav gebogene Bogen, was zu einer leichten Decrescendo-Phrasierung führt, bei der mehrere Töne zur Bogenspitze hin zusammengestrichen werden. Linus ist der Meinung, dass der moderne Bogen besser zur modernen Geige passt und ein breiteres Klangspektrum ermöglicht, weswegen er versucht, diese barocken Erfahrungen auf den modernen Bogen zu übertragen.

Während die Bindebögen und andere Details im Notentext in früheren Jahren nicht immer eingehalten wurden, haben weitere akribische Untersuchungen des Textes zu Notenausgaben geführt, die alle Details von Bachs Handschrift originalgetreu wiedergeben, was zu faszinierenden Ergebnissen führt.

Die Partita, eine Folge von miteinander verbundenen Tanzsätzen, verwandelt sich in Bachs Händen von einer Musik mit dem spezifischen Zweck der Unterhaltung in eine Kunstmusik.

Artist(s)

Linus Roth (violin)

Linus Roth, who received the ECHO KLASSIK Award as 'Best Newcomer' 2006 for his début CD on the label EMI, was awarded his second ECHO award in 2017 for his recording of the violin concertos by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling. Linus Roth has made a name for himself internationally, not just with his acclaimed work in core repertoire, but also with his discovery / rediscovery of works that have undeservedly fallen into oblivion. He has devoted special attention to the works of Mieczysław Weinberg, both on the concert platform and the recording studio. Roth's recording of the complete works for violin and piano by Mieczysław Weinberg, released in 2013 by Challenge Classics to wide...
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Linus Roth, who received the ECHO KLASSIK Award as 'Best Newcomer' 2006 for his début CD on the label EMI, was awarded his second ECHO award in 2017 for his recording of the violin concertos by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling.
Linus Roth has made a name for himself internationally, not just with his acclaimed work in core repertoire, but also with his discovery / rediscovery of works that have undeservedly fallen into oblivion. He has devoted special attention to the works of Mieczysław Weinberg, both on the concert platform and the recording studio. Roth's recording of the complete works for violin and piano by Mieczysław Weinberg, released in 2013 by Challenge Classics to wide public and critical acclaim was followed up by recordings of Weinberg’s Violin Concerto with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester and his Concertino with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. Both CDs were selected as 'Editor’s Choice' by Gramophone magazine. Making Mieczysław Weinberg’s oeuvre known to a wider audience is also the aim of the International Weinberg Society, which Linus Roth founded in 2015. This association organises and sponsors concerts, readings, exhibitions, interdisciplinary events and publications on the work and life of the Polish-Jewish composer. For the 100th anniversary of Weinberg’s birth in 2019, Linus Roth will curate two days of events dedicated to the composer in the form of six concerts at Wigmore Hall in London. In addition to chamber music works, all of Weinberg’s six sonatas for violin and piano as well as the three sonatas for solo violin will be played, including by Linus Roth himself.
Linus Roth has played as a soloist with many leading orchestras including the Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the German Radio Symphony Orchestras of broadcasters SWR and Berlin, the Orquesta de Cordoba, the Orchestra della Toscana in Florence, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra and the Bruckner Orchester Linz. Conductors with whom Roth has worked include Gerd Albrecht, Frank Beermann, Herbert Blomstedt, Andrey Boreyko, Finnegan Downie Dear, Dennis Russell Davies, Kevin John Edusei, Dan Ettinger, James Gaffigan, Hartmut Haenchen, Domonkos Héja, Antony Hermus, Manfred Honeck, Kirill Karabits, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Mihkel Kütson, Leo McFall, Thomas Sanderling, Konstantin Trinks, and Antoni Wit.
A passionate chamber musician, he has performed fellow musicians such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Gautier Capuçon, Kim Kashkashian, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Albrecht Mayer, Nils Mönkemeyer, Andreas Ottensamer, Benjamin Schmid, Christian Poltéra, Julian Steckel, Markus Schirmer, Julien Quentin, Jens-Peter Maintz, Florian Uhlig, Itamar Golan and Danjulo Ishizaka, among others. He has also worked closely for several years with the Argentinean pianist José Gallardo.
Linus Roth attended the preparatory class of Prof. Nicolas Chumachenco at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany, before going on to study with Prof. Zakhar Bron. Subsequently, he pursued his studies for several years with Prof. Ana Chumachenco at the Universities of Music in Zurich and Munich. Salvatore Accardo, Miriam Fried and Josef Rissin have also been important influences on him. During his studies, Linus Roth held a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
In October 2012, Linus Roth was appointed Professor of Violin at the 'Leopold-Mozart-Zentrum' at Augsburg University and is also the artistic director of the Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition in Augsburg. In addition, Linus Roth is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival Ibiza Concerts and from 2020 on of the music festival Schwäbischer Frühling in Ochsenhausen /Germany Linus Roth plays the Stradivarius violin 'Dancla' from 1703 on kind loan from the music foundation of the L-Bank Baden-Württemberg.
In his free time, Roth enjoys fitness sports of all kinds, travelling, eating out and loves boating around the Mediterranean. He has lived in Munich for many years.


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Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.  Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.  
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.


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Press

...Roth enchants above all with the elegance of his tone, which is free of all technical playing noises...
Pizzicato, 18-4-2022

Play album Play album
01.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: I. Allemanda
07:13
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
02.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: II. Double
03:27
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
03.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: III. Courante
03:20
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
04.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: IV. Double
03:57
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
05.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: V. Sarabande
03:52
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
06.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VI. Double
02:52
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
07.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VII. Tempo di Bourrée
03:47
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
08.
Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002: VIII. Double
03:32
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
09.
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: I. Allemande
04:23
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
10.
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: II. Courante
03:14
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
11.
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: III. Sarabande
04:12
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
12.
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: IV. Gigue
04:36
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
13.
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: V. Ciaccona
14:50
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
14.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio
03:59
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
15.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: II. Loure
04:25
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
16.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte en Rondeau
03:00
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
17.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: IV. Menuet I
01:46
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
18.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: V. Menuet II
01:35
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
19.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: VI. Bourrée
01:39
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
20.
Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006: VII. Gigue
02:07
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Linus Roth
show all tracks

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