José Gallardo, Linus Roth - Weinberg: Solo Sonatas for Violin Nos. 1 - 3 (2016)

Tracklist

01. 3 Fantastic Dances (Transcribed for Violin and Piano by Harry Glickman): Dance No. 1. Allegretto
02. Solo Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 82: Adagio-Allegro-Adagio
03. Solo Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 82: Andante
04. Solo Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 82: Allegretto
05. Solo Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 82: Lento
06. Solo Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 82: Presto-Adagio
07. 3 Fantastic Dances (Transcribed for Violin and Piano by Harry Glickman): Dance No. 2. Andantino
08. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Monody
09. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Andantino grazioso
10. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Presto agitato
11. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Andantino non tanto
12. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Allegretto leggiero
13. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Lento affettuoso
14. Solo Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 95: Vivace marcato
15. 3 Fantastic Dances (Transcribed for Violin and Piano by Harry Glickman): Dance No. 3. Allegretto
16. Solo Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. 126


Linus Roth’s disc of Weinberg’s three Sonatas for solo violin is the fourth recording he has devoted to the Polish-born composer’s violin music, following Challenge Classics CDs of his Violin and Piano Sonatas, Violin Concerto and Violin Concertino - two of which were Gramophone Editor’s Choices.

Since he won the Echo Klassik Award for his EMI debut album in 2006, Linus Roth has made a name for himself both as one of the most interesting violinists of his generation and as a champion of wrongly forgotten works and composers. One such is Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a friend of Shostakovich (whose music also appears here with a transcription of his Three Fantastic Dances). Roth is perhaps the leading performer of Weinberg’s music currently; and his interest in the composer led in 2015 to the formation of the International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society.

Weinberg’s three unaccompanied violin sonatas are passionate works dating from 1964, 1967 and 1978. The Third Sonata, Op.123, is the most challenging and important: one continuous movement lasting nearly half an hour, with many technical difficulties. This sonata is dedicated to the memory of his father Shmuil Weinberg, who was a composer and conductor at the Yiddish theatre in Kishinev. Given that Weinberg knew his father had been murdered in the Holocaust, the sonata isn’t easy listening but it’s hugely rewarding.

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]