Linus Roth and Virtuoso Dances

Dance rhythms are at the heart of much Western music, classical, folk, and popular. A new CD by the German violinist Linus Roth is titled Virtuoso Dances and promises seven different pieces of music with a strong dance element. Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky do not rank high on my favourite composer list. For Bartok, I nevertheless like his Six Romanian Dances for violin and piano, plus his Concerto for Orchestra, and for Stravinsky, his ballets Firebird, Petrouchka, and the Divertimento for violin and piano. The Romanian Dances, and the Divertimento are both on this CD.

Four of Brahms' Hungarian Dances are well played. Antonio Bazzini's La Ronde des Lutins is only worth playing if the violinist is a real virtuoso and never struggles; Roth's playing here is exemplary. I didn't think much of Astor Piazzolla's Le grand tango. Wieniawski's ever-green Polonaise de concert is given a rousing rendition by Roth, and the CD ends with Karol Szymanowski's Notturno et Tarantella.

I have come across the playing of Linus Roth only fleetingly in the past. This CD impresses both with the choice of repertoire, and the violin playing. Roth's borrowed “Dancla” Strad of 1703 sounds a fine instrument. A successful CD.

Note: On my copy of the CD, Track 7 (the Sinfonia of Stravinsky's Divertimento) kept replaying; it was only after the third time round that I realised what was happening. Sort of “play it again, Sam”, over and over again.