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Distant Lights – Vasks; Bach: Violin Concertos BWV 1041 & 1042

Renaud Capuçon, violin & direction Chamber Orchestra of Europe Céline Frisch, continuo (Bach) – 2014

Renaud Capuçon’s first recording as both soloist and conductor is also his first recording with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has chosen to juxtapose Bach’s violin concertos in A minor and E major with a haunting concerto written more than 350 years later: Tala gaisma (Distant Light) by contemporary Latvian composer Peteris Vasks.

This programme is as intriguing as it is unexpected. Capuçon – who points out that the Bach A minor was the first concerto he ever played – had considered the more conventional complement of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto; but he settled on Distant Light, a work which, as he says, “I fell in love with as soon as I discovered it”. He decided to “put together two different worlds, Bach’s and Vask’s … Their music does, however share a purity … it rises up from a source. When you play it, you don’t get tired … It is healing music, feeding you and giving you energy.”

It is perhaps no coincidence that Peteris Vasks has himself said: “My intention is to provide food for the soul and this is what I preach in my works … Most people today no longer possess beliefs, love and ideals. The spiritual dimension has been lost.”  Vasks was born in 1946, a year before his fellow Latvian, Gidon Kremer, the dedicatee of Distant Light, which was first heard in 1997 at the Salzburg Festival, performed by Kremer and his then newly-founded ensemble Kremerata Baltica, comprising young players from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
In his music, Vasks often draws on the phenomena of nature – here, twinkling stars in the night sky – and embeds elements of Latvian folk music in a modern idiom. The concerto was stimulated both by the composer’s own memories and Kremer’s German-language autobiography Kindheitsspiltter (Splinters of Childhood). Constructed as a single movement in eleven sections and characterised by contrasting moods, it is fundamentally tonal and often contemplative, inhabiting an aesthetic and spiritual world akin to that of composers such as Arvo Pärt, John Tavener and Henryk Górecki.
Renaud Capuçon describes the Chamber Orchestra of Europe as “an amazing orchestra, with extraordinary  concentration and focus. Within a few seconds of starting to play, we were all sharing the same spirit.” He was also delighted to have, as he said, “the luxury of a leading harpsichordist”, the French player Céline Frisch, to provide the continuo.
“Directing the orchestra from the violin, I have a different and wider set of responsibilities. Rather than getting caught up in the detail of the solo part, it’s up to me to drive the whole session. By taking on the extra role, I gain a better view of the whole musical picture. But with this orchestra, the experience is like playing chamber music, with players around the ensemble contributing their opinions as the recording session progresses. It’s all very organic.”

 

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
‘Other participants: Renaud Capuçon, Celine Frisch, Peteris Vasks, Chamber Orchestra of Europe



J.-S. BACH
Violin concerto BWV 1042
4. allegro
5. adagio e sempre piano
6. allegro

Violin concerto BWV 1041
1. allegro moderato
2. andante
3. allegro assai

Peteris VASKS
Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra
“Tala gaisma” / “Fernes Licht” / “Distant Light”
7. Andante
8. Cadenza 1
9. Cantabile
10. Mosso
11. Cadenza II
12. Cantabile
13. Cadenza III
14. Andante

Renaud Capuçon, violin & direction
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Céline Frisch, continuo (Bach)

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Discography

Bach Sonatas

Renaud Capuçon, David Fray

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Cinema

Nolwenn Leroy, Stéphane Denève, Brussels Philharmonic

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Renaud Capuçon, Bertrand Chamayou, Gérard Caussé, Emmanuel Pahud, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Edgar Moreau - 2017

Debussy: Sonates & Trio

Renaud Capuçon, Bertrand Chamayou, Gérard Caussé, Emmanuel Pahud, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Edgar Moreau – 2017

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Wiener Symphoniker, Orchstre de l'Opéra National de Paris, Philippe Jordan, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-Whun Chung - 2016

Rihm: Gedicht des Malers, Dusapin: Aufgang, Mantovani: Jeux d’Eau

Wiener Symphoniker, Orchstre de l’Opéra National de Paris, Philippe Jordan, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-Whun Chung – 2016

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Lalo, Bruch, Sarasate, Paavo Järvi, Orchestre de Paris - 2016

Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Bruch: Violin Concerto

Lalo, Bruch, Sarasate, Paavo Järvi, Orchestre de Paris – 2016

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Renaud Capuçon, violin & direction Chamber Orchestra of Europe Céline Frisch, continuo (Bach) - 2014

Distant Lights – Vasks; Bach: Violin Concertos BWV 1041 & 1042

Renaud Capuçon, violin & direction Chamber Orchestra of Europe Céline Frisch, continuo (Bach) – 2014

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La muse et le poète – Concertos

Renaud Capuçon , Camille Saint-Saëns, Lionel Bringuier, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gautier Capuçon – 2013

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Renaud Capuçon, Wiener Philharmoniker, Daniel Harding - 2012

Brahms & Berg : Violin Concertos

Renaud Capuçon, Wiener Philharmoniker, Daniel Harding – 2012

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Fauré : Complete chamber music for strings

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Nicholas Angelich, Quatuor Ébène – 2011

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Renaud Capuçon, Frank Braley - 2010

Beethoven : Complete Sonatas for violin and piano

Renaud Capuçon, Frank Braley – 2010

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Renaud Capuçon, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin - 2009

Beethoven & Korngold : Violin Concertos

Renaud Capuçon, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin – 2009

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Renaud Capuçon, Louis Langrée, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Antoine Tamestit - 2009

Mozart : Violin Concertos 1 & 3, Sinfonia Concertante

Renaud Capuçon, Louis Langrée, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Antoine Tamestit – 2009

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Nicholas Angelich - 2008

Brahms : Piano Quartets

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Nicholas Angelich – 2008

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Renaud Capuçon, Mstislav Rostropovich, Various Artists - 2008

Dutilleux : Concertos • Orchestral Works

Renaud Capuçon, Mstislav Rostropovich, Various Artists – 2008

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Meyer - 2007

Brahms : Double Concerto & Clarinet Quintet

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Meyer – 2007

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley - 2007

Schubert : Piano Trios

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley – 2007

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Composer: Various Other participants: Renaud Capuçon, Jérôme Ducros - Piano

CAPRICCIO

Composer: Various Other participants: Renaud Capuçon, Jérôme Ducros – Piano – 2007

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon - 2006

INVENTIONS

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon – 2006

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Renaud Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich - 2005

BRAHMS : VIOLIN SONATAS

Renaud Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich – 2005

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé - 2004

SCHUBERT : TROUT QUINTET

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé – 2004

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LE CARNAVAL DES ANIMAUX

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud, Frank Braley – 2004

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MENDELSSOHN & SCHUMANN : VIOLIN CONCERTOS

Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Harding, Mahler Chamber Orchestra – 2004

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Martha Argerich, Renaud Capuçon, Mischa Maisky, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky - 2004

BEETHOVEN : TRIPLE CONCERTO & SCHUMANN : PIANO CONCERTO

Martha Argerich, Renaud Capuçon, Mischa Maisky, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky – 2004

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich - 2004

BRAHMS : PIANO TRIOS

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich – 2004

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Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon - 2003

DUOS

Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon – 2003

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DUTILLEUX : CELLO & VIOLIN CONCERTOS

Truls Mørk, Renaud Capuçon, Myung-Whun Chung, French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra – 2002

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Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley - 2002

RAVEL : CHAMBER MUSIC

Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley – 2002

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LE BOEUF SUR LE TOIT

LE BOEUF SUR LE TOIT

Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Harding, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen – 2001

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