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Distant Light
Pēteris Vasks

Daniel Rowland

Distant Light

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917283020
Catnr: CC 72830
Release date: 24 September 2020
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917283020
Catalogue number
CC 72830
Release date
24 September 2020

"Rowland presents the work in an excellent light. His bow technique is superb. This is remarkably sensitive and sympathetic playing. It is clear he has great empathy for the music."

Fanfare, 01-3-2021
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Artist(s)
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About the album

This CD offers an overview of four of Peteris’s most iconic works, from the large scale, dramatic Violin Concerto ‘Distant light’, and the magically dreamy meditation ‘Lonely Angel’, to his evocation of Latvian landscape and birdsong ‘Plainscapes’ and the extatic ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’.

Daniel Rowland: The first piece by Peteris Vasks that I heard, about a decade ago, was his magnificent Violin Concerto ‘Distant light’, already a modern classic, and I was blown away by the deep emotional impact of this extraordinary music, that seemed to me both wonderfully mysterious, connected to ancient times, touched by a sublime spirituality and at the same time viscerally exciting and with moments of stunning virtuosity. Last summer, when Peteris accepted my invitation to come to the 15th edition of my Stiftfestival in Holland as Composer in Residence I was truly excited at the chance to work closely with him on several of his pieces. At the festival we performed many of Peteris’ works, solo, chamber and orchestral, with wonderful artists. The week culminated with the concert that you now hold in your hands, in the splendid, deeply atmospheric and acoustically wonderful 15th century Plechelmus Basiliek in Oldenzaal.

Pēteris Vasks: Most people today no longer possess beliefs, love and ideals. The spiritual dimension has been lost. My intention is to provide food for the soul and this is what I preach in my works

De talentvolle en befaamde violist Daniel Rowland verrast de luisteraar hier met een heerlijk en meditatief album. Op de cd staan vier van de meest iconische werken van de Letse componist Pēteris Vasks, van het titelstuk, het grootschalige, dramatische vioolconcert Distant light en de magisch dromerige meditatie Lonely Angel, tot zijn evocatie van het Letse landschap en vogelzang Plainscapes en het extatische Dona Nobis Pacem.

Daniel Rowland: “Het eerste stuk van Pēteris Vasks dat ik ongeveer tien jaar geleden hoorde, was zijn prachtige vioolconcert Distant light, al een moderne klassieker. Ik werd weggeblazen door de diepe emotionele impact van deze buitengewone muziek, die op mij overkwam als wonderlijk mysterieus, deed denken aan voorbije tijden, met een zweem van sublieme spiritualiteit en die tegelijkertijd opwindend was met momenten van verbluffende virtuositeit.”

Reden voor Daniel, artistiek leider van het Stiftfestival, om Vasks in 2019 uit te nodigen als Composer in Residence voor dit jaarlijkse festival, waarop zowel solo, kamer als orkestrale werken van Pēteris werden uitgevoerd door bekende artiesten als Marianna Shirinyan, Maja Bogdanovic, Diana Ketler, Alberto Mesirca, Zoran Markovic, Janne Thomsen, Razvan Popovici en Thomas Carroll. Rowland heeft vooral levendige herinneringen aan het samen met Pēteris werken aan zijn verbazingwekkende Piano Quartet, en het horen van zijn briljante artiesten-vrienden die solowerken uitvoerden als Bass trip en Sonata de solitude. Hoogtepunt van de week was het concert dat op deze cd staat en werd opgenomen in de mooie, sfeervolle en akoestisch prachtige 15e eeuwse Plechelmus Basiliek in Oldenzaal.

Pēteris Vasks: “De meeste mensen hebben tegenwoordig geen overtuigingen, liefde en idealen meer. De spirituele dimensie is verloren gegaan. Het is mijn bedoeling om voedsel te bieden voor de ziel en dat is wat ik predik in mijn werken.”
Diese CD bietet einen Überblick zu vier von Peteris Werken mit Kultcharakter, vom weitläufigen, dramatischen Violinkonzert Distant Light und der magisch träumerischen Meditation Lonely Angel zu seiner Evokation der lettischen Landschaft und Vogelsang in Plainscapes und dem ekstatischen Dona Nobis Pacem.

David Rowland: Das erste Stuck, das ich von Pēteris Vasks gehört habe, vor etwa zehn Jahren, war sein herrliches Violinkonzert Distant Light, schon damals ein moderner Klassiker, und ich war bewegt von der tiefemotionalen Wirkung dieser außergewöhnlichen Musik, die mir zugleich wunderbar und mysteriös erschien. Sie war verbunden mit alten Zeiten, berührt von einer überirdischen Spiritualität und gleichzeitig instinktiv aufregend mit Momenten atemberaubender Virtuosität. Im letzten Sommer, als Pēteris meine Einladung annahm, als Composer in Residence zur 15. Ausgabe meines Stiftfestivals in Holland zu kommen, war ich wirklich aufgeregt in Anbetracht der Gelegenheit, eng mit ihm an mehreren seiner Stücke zu arbeiten. Wir führten viele seiner Werke beim Festival auf, Solo, Kammer -und Orchestermusik, mit wunderbaren Künstlern. Die Woche gipfelte in dem Konzert, das Sie nun in Ihren Händen halten; es fand in der prächtigen, äußerst atmosphärischen und akustisch wunderbaren, sechshundert Jahre alten St.-Plechelmus-Basilika in Oldenzaal.

Pēteris Vasks: Die meisten Menschen besitzen keinen Glauben, keine Liebe und keine Ideale mehr. Die spirituelle Dimension ging verloren. Meine Intention ist es, Seelennahrung zu bieten, und das predige ich in meinen Werken.

Artist(s)

Daniel Rowland (violin)

Dutch/English violinist Daniel Rowland’s playing has been acclaimed as ‘wonderful, ravishing in its finesse’ by The Guardian and as ‘both naked and highly virtuosic’ by NRC Handelsblad, while The Herald praised his ‘astonishing sound and uniquely single-minded intensity’.  Daniel has established himself on the international scene as a highly versatile, communicative, charismatic and adventurous performer, with a broad repertoire from Vivaldi to Van der Aa. In recent seasons Daniel has performed with concertos ranging from Beethoven to Brahms, Elgar, Berg, Korngold, Weinberg and Prokofiev, with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Jaap van Zweden, François-Xavier Roth, Lawrence Foster, Antony Hermus and Rossen Milanov. He is a passionate advocate of contemporary concertos such as Vasks, Lindberg, Glass, Saariaho, Nisinman and Van der Aa....
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Dutch/English violinist Daniel Rowland’s playing has been acclaimed as ‘wonderful, ravishing in its finesse’ by The Guardian and as ‘both naked and highly virtuosic’ by NRC Handelsblad, while The Herald praised his ‘astonishing sound and uniquely single-minded intensity’.

Daniel has established himself on the international scene as a highly versatile, communicative, charismatic and adventurous performer, with a broad repertoire from Vivaldi to Van der Aa. In recent seasons Daniel has performed with concertos ranging from Beethoven to Brahms, Elgar, Berg, Korngold, Weinberg and Prokofiev, with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Jaap van Zweden, François-Xavier Roth, Lawrence Foster, Antony Hermus and Rossen Milanov. He is a passionate advocate of contemporary concertos such as Vasks, Lindberg, Glass, Saariaho, Nisinman and Van der Aa. Recently he premiered Isidora Zebeljan‘s Violin Concerto ‘Three Curious Loves’ and this autumn sees the premiere of Roxanna Panufnik‘s ‘Songs of Love and Friendship’ with the Dutch Radio Choir at the Concertgebouw. September 2020 sees the release of ‘Distant Light’, with violin concertos by Peteris Vasks (Challenge Records).

A passionate chamber musician, Daniel has performed with artists as diverse as Ivry Gitlis, Heinz Holliger, Martha Argerich, Michael Collins, Lars Vogt, Giovanni Sollima, Marcelo Nisinman, Willard White and Elvis Costello. Daniel is one half of acclaimed duo partnerships with pianist Natacha Kudritskaya with whom he earlier recorded for Champs Hill Records a disc dedicated to the Enescu Sonatas (‘a perfect partnership’ – BBC Music Magazine), and with cellist Maja Bogdanovic, whose recent duo CD ‘Pas de deux’ (Challenge Records) was described as ‘a magical meeting between violin and cello’ by Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. In 2005 Daniel founded the Stift International Music Festival in the bucolic region of Twente in the eastern Netherlands, where he grew up, with the 15th century Stiftkerk as the main venue. The festival has garnered acclaim as one of great intimacy, adventure and atmosphere. Daniel was for twelve years the leader of the Brodsky Quartet, performing all over the world, and making numerous recordings, including the celebrated Shostakowitch Cycle.

Daniel was born in London, and started his violin lessons in Enschede after his parents moved to Twente in the eastern Netherlands. He studied with Jan Repko, Davina van Wely, Herman Krebbers, Viktor Liberman, Igor Oistrakh and Ivry Gitlis. His violin is by Lorenzo Storioni (Cremona 1796), and his bow is a Maline, kindly loaned by the Dutch Instrument Foundation. He teaches at the Royal College of Music in London. He lives in Amsterdam with his partner, cellist Maja Bogdanovic´.


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Consensus Vocalis

Consensus Vocalis was founded as a choir in the mid-1980s, with the aim of performing the large-scale works of Johann Sebastian Bach. These performances were given in conjunction with the likes of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Concerto d’ Amsterdam, Musica Amphion, Holland Baroque Society and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. The choir has also collaborated with The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in a number of performances and recordings, with conductors including Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, David Porcelijn and Klaas Stok. Klaas Stok is the choir’s artistic director until the summer of 2018, while the commercial manager is Francis Faas.
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Consensus Vocalis was founded as a choir in the mid-1980s, with the aim of performing the large-scale works of Johann Sebastian Bach. These performances were given in conjunction with the likes of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Concerto d’ Amsterdam, Musica Amphion, Holland Baroque Society and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.
The choir has also collaborated with The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in a number of performances and recordings, with conductors including Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, David Porcelijn and Klaas Stok.
Klaas Stok is the choir’s artistic director until the summer of 2018, while the commercial manager is Francis Faas.

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Thomas Carroll (conductor)

Benjamin Goodson (conductor)

Composer(s)

Pēteris Vasks

He wrote his first composition when he was 8 years old. His musical education started at the Riga Music school and the Lithuanian Academy of Music (Vilnius), we he studied double bass under Vitautas Sereika. From 1963 to 1978, he played the double bass in the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Latvian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Latvian Radio Orchestra.  Besides that, he also studied composition from 1973 to 1978 at the Latvian Academy of Music under Valentin Utkin. He adopted early Latvian music in his compositions, which are mostly about the battle between man and nature; the beauty of nature but also its threats. As many composers from the Northern regions, he also addresses the threats towards nature, such as the increasing deforestation.  Since...
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He wrote his first composition when he was 8 years old. His musical education started at the Riga Music school and the Lithuanian Academy of Music (Vilnius), we he studied double bass under Vitautas Sereika. From 1963 to 1978, he played the double bass in the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Latvian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Latvian Radio Orchestra. Besides that, he also studied composition from 1973 to 1978 at the Latvian Academy of Music under Valentin Utkin. He adopted early Latvian music in his compositions, which are mostly about the battle between man and nature; the beauty of nature but also its threats. As many composers from the Northern regions, he also addresses the threats towards nature, such as the increasing deforestation. Since 1994, Vasks is an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Science and he is part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 2001.
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Press

Rowland presents the work in an excellent light. His bow technique is superb. This is remarkably sensitive and sympathetic playing. It is clear he has great empathy for the music.
Fanfare, 01-3-2021

Vask's desolate, contemplative soundworld seems all too appropriate for current times. Rowland captures the spirit with aplomb here.
BBC Music Magazine, 21-1-2021

A heartbreaking rendering combining plainchant with mournful Latvian spirituality makes an appropriate ending.
American Record Guide, 01-1-2021

A compelling performance of this special work in which lyricism reigns supreme.
Mania, 11-9-2020

Music that slides into your ears without resistance.
Het Parool, 04-9-2020

Rowland pays a beautiful ode to Vasks
NRC, 03-9-2020

The performances here seem very fine, and the involvement of Vasks himself ensures their authenticity. [...] The recording is warm and glowing; this is a live recording but no applause is included. There are other recordings of all the works here but not in this combination. Warmly recommended.
Musicweb International, 01-9-2020

The performance by Daniel Rowland and the Stift Festival Orchestra is excellent, but it is no match for this Baltic display of force, especially for the contribution of the orchestra. Vasks' lavish orchestration is in better hands with the Baltic musicians and Kremer's scorching tone almost literally sets the work on fire. Although there is certainly much to be said for the particularly beautiful sound that Rowland elicits from his violin and, despite the many rightly spicy accents, his approach to this work that hints more towards nostalgia and longing.
Opus Klassiek, 01-9-2020

Discover Pēteris Vasks on the particularly beautiful CD, “Distant Light”, by the violinist Daniel Rowland
Stretto, 21-8-2020

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Videos

Daniel Rowland - Vasks - Distant Light

Often bought together with..

Valentyn Silvestrov
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Pas de Deux
Daniel Rowland / Maja Bogdanović
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White Light: the space between
O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra
Various composers
Nordic Atmospheres
Sinfonietta Riga / Claus Efland / Egīl Šēfers

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