Now, Voyager, sail... Robert Groslot, Brussels Philharmonic & Linus Roth

• Robert Groslot (b. 1951): Second Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op. 129:
• 1 Groslot: Second Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op. 129: I. Tempo di Marcia 12:22
• 2 Groslot: Second Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op. 129: II. Andante 06:59
• 3 Groslot: Second Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op. 129: III. Agitato 11:14
• Now, Voyager, sail... (First Symphony) Op. 130:
• 4 Groslot: Now, Voyager, sail... (First Symphony) Op. 130: I. . Vivace 14:05
• 5 Groslot: Now, Voyager, sail... (First Symphony) Op. 130: II. Giocoso 05:59
• 6 Groslot: Now, Voyager, sail... (First Symphony) Op. 130: III. Lento 09:07
• 7 Groslot: Now, Voyager, sail... (First Symphony) Op. 130: IV. Vivace 06:21
• Total Runtime 01:06:07

Info for Now, Voyager, sail...

Now, Voyager, sail… (First Symphony), Op. 130 is Robert Groslot’s first symphony. The title refers to a poem by the American author Walt Whitman. And the “Scherzo” movement shares a link with the Beatles song, Getting Better from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Groslot borrows musical motives and paraphrases them in his musical language.

A unique selling point of the present recording is that the solo part of the Violin Concerto is performed by German virtuoso Linus Roth. Roth received the prestigious ECHO KLASSIK Award in 2006 (as best newcomer) and in 2017 for his recording of the Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra. But he is also a tireless advocate of repertoire that has been unjustly neglected. Since Linus is almost exclusively responsible for the (re)discovery of Mieczysław Weinberg, a late Romantic composer whose music hovered on the brink of modernism, he is also a perfect fit for Groslot’s new concerto.

Linus Roth, violin
Brussels Philharmonic
Robert Groslot, conductor

Linus Roth
who already received the ECHO KLASSIK Award as "Best Newcomer" of 2006 forhis début CD on the label EMI, has received his second ECHO award in 2017 for a recording of the violin concertos by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling.

Linus Roth has made a name for himself internationally not just with standard repertoire, but also with his discovery or rediscovery of works that have undeservedly fallen into oblivion. He has devoted special attention to the works of Mieczysław Weinberg, both in concerts and the recording studio, being the first violinist to have recorded this composer ́s complete Œuvre on CD. Making Mieczysław Weinberg’s works known to a wider audience is also the aim of the International Weinberg Society, which Linus Roth founded in 2015.

Linus Roth attended the preparatory class of Prof. Nicolas Chumachenco at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany, before going on to study with Prof. Zakhar Bron. Subsequently, he pursued his studies for several years with Prof. Ana Chumachenco. While studying, he held a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation

In October 2012, Linus Roth was appointed professor for violin at the “Leopold-Mozart- Zentrum” at Augsburg University and is also the artistic director of the 10th Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition in Augsburg. In addition, Linus Roth is the artistic director of the international festival Ibiza Concerts, which he himself founded, and of the music festival Schwäbischer Frühling in Ochsenhausen, Germany.

Linus Roth plays on the Stradivarius violin “Dancla” from 1703 – a kind loan from the music foundation of the L-Bank Baden-Württemberg.

Robert Groslot
(1951, Mechelen, Belgium) started his musical career as a pianist. After winning the Alessandro Casagrande Competition in 1974 (Terni) and becoming laureate at the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Brussels, 1978), he undertook concert trips accross 4 continents through more than 20 countries and made many studio, radio and television recordings, over 120 CDs.

A strong supporter of professional music education, Robert Groslot has taught piano at several distinguished music institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands until 2009. The majority of his career he spent at The Royal Conservatory of Antwerp where he was appointed Artistic Director in 1995. In the mid 1990’s he founded two succesful national youth orchestras that served as a training ground for an entire generation of musicians, many of whom can be found working professionally throughout Europe.

Booklet for Now, Voyager, sail...