Groslot - Concerto for Orchestra; Violin Concerto 2018

Groslot - Concerto for Orchestra; Violin Concerto

Жанр: Classical concerto
Страна-производитель диска: Made in Germany
Год издания диска: 2018
Издатель (лейбл): Naxos
Номер по каталогу: 8.573808
Дата записи: 2017
Аудиокодек: FLAC
Тип рипа: image+.cue
Битрейт аудио: (lossy + lossless)
Продолжительность: 01:00:09
Источник: релизер
-источник/ник/другое: bodtje, подарок ; Caterina Sforza - доп. сканы
: да
Треклист:

1. Violin Concerto 00:22:39
Concerto for Orchestra

2. I. Exordium 00:11:57

3. II. Hoketus 00:06:43

4. III. Nachtmusik 00:08:50

5. IV. Conclusion 00:09:51

Исполнители

Robert Groslot (1951)
Violin Concerto
Concerto for OrchestraJoanna Kurkowicz (violin)
[u]Brussels Philharmonic[/u]
Robert Groslot, conductor
Recording Date: March 27, 2017 - March 31, 2017
Recording Location: Studio 4, Flagey, Brussels, Belgium
Audio CD (10 Aug. 2018)

Product Description

The concerto occupies a central place in the works of leading Belgian composer, pianist and conductor, Robert Groslot. His experience as a renowned soloist informs the instrumental possibilities and playing techniques of his compositions, which are notable for their refined and rich contrast. Conforming to his preference for one-movement structures, the Violin Concerto is laced with scintillating motifs both ethereal and playful as well as complex moods ranging from the dream-like and magical to the dark and violent. The Concerto for Orchestra is a meticulously structured and dazzlingly evocative showpiece.

About this Recording

8.573808 - GROSLOT, R.: Concerto for Orchestra / Violin Concerto (Kurkowicz, Brussels Philharmonic, Groslot)
Robert Groslot (b. 1951)
Violin Concerto * Concerto for Orchestra
Concertos. There are concertos for the violin, but also for the sitar. For the trombone, but also for the recorder. For two pianos, electric guitar, harmonica, and even for water or paper. As far as the concerto is concerned, the sky is the limit.
The concerto genre plays a leading role in the musical oeuvre of Robert Groslot (born in Mechelen in 1951). With more than 20 concertos to his name, this Belgian composer holds strong views on the interaction between soloist and orchestra. In addition to concertos for the more traditional orchestral instruments, he has also composed concertos for organ, saxophone, or guitar. Appropriately, Groslot set out on his musical career as a concert pianist. He won the 1974 Alessandro Casagrande Competition, and four years later he was a laureate of the 1978 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since then, he has performed worldwide with various renowned symphony orchestras. With over 100 albums to his name and more than 50 piano concertos in his repertoire, he is one of the most productive and successful Flemish pianists of his generation. Through his work as a piano teacher at various music institutes and as artistic director of the Antwerp Conservatoire, he has passed this professional expertise on to the next generation of concert pianists.
Groslot’s experience as soloist and performer is also unmistakably incorporated into his musical signature, with the exploration of instrumental possibilities and playing techniques a fundamental constant in his concertante compositions. Yet the language of his concertos is not merely virtuoso or technically demanding: they are diverting as well as tasteful, being refined and rich in contrast; and their main priority is always to give pleasure to performer and listener alike. A second constant in Groslot’s concerto oeuvre is his attention to form. In imitation of Franz Liszt, of whom he is a great admirer, Groslot almost always strives to achieve a one-movement construction that allows for huge diversity, despite an overarching tension curve.
The Violin Concerto from 2010 also keeps to this one-movement, through-composed form. The concerto begins with a brief, mysterious intro: above low strings and harp notes, one hears an extremely high, protracted melody in the solo part. The violin trill that concludes this ethereal phrase lights the fuse of the string section, which enters with a rapid initial passage. The solo violin launches an energetic and exciting stream of notes, relieved at times by subtle ornaments in piano, harp and vibraphone, or by playful pizzicati. Groslot dazzles the listener with the insertion of a scintillating little violin motif full of whistling flageolets, or with fluttery violin melodies above lively woodwinds. Suddenly, Wagnerian brass plunges the orchestra into a dark mood. The solo violin resumes its compelling melody, returning the music to a variation on the mysterious opening measures.
The solo cadenza following this fast passage is not so much virtuoso as theatrical. The violin takes several tentative explorative steps, to which at a certain moment the celesta responds. Imperceptibly, the cadenza blends into a brief, slow transition passage with expansively melodious cellos. This Andante reaches a climax, after which a motoric, Stravinskian piano kicks off a second fast passage. Just as in the first fast passage, this Presto comes to a standstill for a moment: but this time, it is a magical waltz passage, rather than a dark storm cloud, that presents itself to break the mood.
Low notes in the harp bring the Presto to a halt, after which a dreamy sequence is initiated. This is followed by a second, elegant waltz passage resulting in an ultra-high conclusion. Moments later, the music is interrupted by a dangerous, typically late-Romantic burst from the brass. Slowly but surely, the solo violin introduces a final fast passage. Groslot again deploys material from the first passage, but now the playfulness and optimism are stripped of their innocence. Gradually, the orchestral accompaniment becomes more threatening and gruesome, and the concerto finally concludes with a solo violin driven forward by violent blows from the orchestra. It is probably no coincidence that the final musical gesture is quite similar to the beginning of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
In addition to a flourishing career as a concert pianist and piano teacher, Groslot has also been an active conductor for many years. He believes conducting to be an important source of inspiration for his composing. Thus, it was no coincidence that he added a Concerto for Orchestra to his list of works in 2016. His love of contrast and colour makes his choice of genre almost inevitable. The category of the ‘concerto for orchestra’ dates back to the Baroque concerto grosso, in which a small ensemble, or concertino, was set against the larger orchestral group. In 1925, Paul Hindemith set a trend with his Concerto for Orchestra, in which the orchestra is split into various groups, which are at times featured together, and at others separately. Since then, many composers have used the ‘concerto for orchestra’ as a means to contrast the different orchestral colours.
Groslot’s Concerto for Orchestra surprises the listener with its refined variations in sound and virtuoso range of colours. The first movement bears the well-chosen title Exordium, a concept in classical rhetoric that is used to introduce a reasoned plea. Informing the audience, attracting attention and bringing the audience around to your line of thinking are the typical characteristics of the exordium, according to the art of public speaking. And Groslot’s concerto does exactly that: the music does not start with a grand gesture, but with a highly precise oboe adding notes here and there above the vibraphone. A complex entity is created from that simple oboe motif, held together by recognisable, recurring patterns that continually return in various combinations of instruments, and are commented on and supplemented in different ways. Groslot has so much fun exploring novel sound combinations that he delays the entrance of his first real orchestral tutti until somewhere around the eighth minute.
The title of the second movement, Hoketus, refers to a rhythmic linear technique that produces an effect similar to the hiccups. The origin of the technique dates back to medieval French music, and has been recently embraced by post-minimalist composers such as Louis Andriesse