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‘It was an absolute privilege to immerse ourselves in Bloch’s idiom. Having spent considerable time with these pieces I remain amazed at how different they are from one another – the aggression and blunt force of the First Sonata, the religious ecstasy and eroticism of the Poème mystique, the neo-Classical rigidity of the Suite, the raw pain of the Baal Shem – and yet how there seems to be a common thread, that of a restless soul always bursting with creativity and unbridled passion.’
– Boris Brovtsyn, violin
Ernest BLOCH (1880–1959)
Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 ‘Poème mystique’ *
Baal Shem • Suite No. 1 for Solo Violin
Spectrum Concerts BerlinBoris Brovtsyn, Violin • Diana Ketler, Piano *
The full range of Ernest Bloch’s music for violin and piano can be heard on this album, which journeys from his fiery early works to one of his last compositions. Both violin sonatas explore personal themes. The First, in its barbarism, alludes to the First World War, while the Second, subtitled Poème mystique, was inspired by a dream and is suffused with lyrical episodes from Gregorian chant. The melancholy and ecstasy evoked in Baal Shem derive from Hebrew music, including pre-existing synagogal melodies. The economy of the neo-Baroque Suite No. 1 for Solo Violin reveals a more reserved but no less inventive side of Bloch’s violin writing.
I. Vidui: Un poco lento
Violinist Boris Brovtsyn is in demand worldwide both as a concerto soloist and chamber musician. He's a frequent guest at Les Grands Interprètes chamber music series in Geneva as well as Spectrum Concerts Berlin, where he has appeared every season since 2008. After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic and soon relocated to London. He holds a professorship at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität in Vienna and is an avid chamber musician, having collaborated with artists such as Gidon Kremer and Kyung-wha Chung at festivals including thos held in Verbier, Edinburgh and Salzburg.
Latvian pianist and conductor Diana Ketler is the artistic director of SoNoRo Festival in Romania and Chiemgauer Musikfrühling in Bavaria. She is also a co-founder of Ensemble Raro, with whom she has recorded a number of highly critically acclaimed albums (co-produced by Solo Musica in Munich and Bayerischer Rundfunk). She is professor of piano at the Royal College of Music in London, and professor of chamber music at the Haute école de musique in Geneva. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Violin Sonata • Piano Quintet, Op. 30
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
Nebolsin • Brovtsyn • Hiber
Lubbe • Stadler
– MusicWeb International
Piano Trio, Op. 1 • String Sextet, Op. 10
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
– MusicWeb International
Chamber Music
String Sextet • Violin Sonata No. 2
Duo • Cinq Études de jazz
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
– Gramophone
Chamber Music
Piano Quintet • String Quartet No. 2 • Piano Trio No. 1
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
– MusicWeb International