Search - Jose Gallardo, Linus Roth :: Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Solo Sonatas for Violin, Nos. 1-3

Just a decade ago the name Mieczyslaw Weinberg drew a blank from music lovers. Weinbergs music and its surge to a more general acknowledgment is the surest sign that there are still unearthed geniuses among composers out there, whose unearthing can enrich our musical diet and change our perception of the musical past. This release continues Linus Roths discovery and exploration of Weinberg, which started with learning about, reading, playing and recording the Sonatas for Violin and Piano and has most recently led to his initiating the International Mieczysaw Weinberg Society. He has since recorded Weinbergs works for violin and orchestra; here he is back with chamber music: Weinbergs three unaccompanied violin sonatas, whose dates of composition are 1964, 1967, and 1978. The Third Sonata, op. 123, is the most challenging and important: somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes long, it provides challenges all of its own. Apart from its share of technical challenges, its one-movement structure asks for continuous play. This sonata is dedicated to the memory of his father Shmuil Weinberg, who was a composer and conductor at the Yiddish theater in Kishinev. Given that his father was murdered in the Holocaust, it demands and deserves dedication on the part of the listener, whom it rewards by revealing a surprising, raw tenderness.