Rony Rogoff, violinist and conductor - Reviews
"Extraordinary beauty and exiting
power
Rogoff showed how strong was the Szigeti stylistic influence
– in the superoir, musicianly way he played it – remarkable
firmness, intensity and structural cohesion. The performance
is first-rate with extraordinary beauty and exiting power.
Some of the sounds were as lyrical and dulcet as you could
expect from a violin."
Raymond Ericson, New York Times
"Sensation. Mr. Rogoff, varying expression, emphasis, dynamics,
and character, playing with complete seriousness and involvement,
created magical music. Applying the full resources of his romantic
playing style, intervals and harmonies were seen as if lit
from different qangles and in contrasting colors. This personal
interpretation was a fine example of a performer's creativity
complementing that of the composer "
Nicholas Kenyon, the New Yorker
"A flawless sense of pitch. An exquisite example of superior
technique. Remarkable."
San Francisco Chronicle
"Mr. Rogoff's performance was memorable; brilliant technique,
beautiful tone and elegant phrasing, (on the level of the great
Szigeti)."
Strasbourg News
"Rony Rogoff has discovered the unique approach to the
contemporary interpretation of Bach, The Sonata No. 3 in C
Major is monumental. This record is not only recommended, it
is a must."
Career World
"Excellent. Impeccable. A ravishing demonstration of
transcendental technique that is magical, tender, profound
and romantic ."
Diapason Magazine de la Musique Disque
et du Son (Paris)
"His rock-solid tone and faultless technique remained
sovereign in even the most confounding passages. His unfaltering
overall grasp of his musical duties and his mature artistic
posture would be worthy of the most seasoned musician ."
High Fidelity/Musical America
"His performance captured the hearts of the audience
by storm ."
Tokyo Times
"He played three great concertos (Mozart, Tchaikovsky,
Lalo) with such consistent beauty of tone and sweetness of
sound, such refined precision of rhytzhm and grace of phraseology,
and such penetration of the music – a magnificant performance."
Daily Mirror
"Rogoff played sensitively, dramatically, beautifully
and with great devotion."
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
"Mr. Rogoff was more than brilliant. If Bartók was a
violinist, he would play his concertos like Rony Rogoff."
El Mundo, Madrid
"Rogoff conquered all with his own measure of lyricism
and technical virtuosity; elegant and completely captivating ."
Los Angeles Times
"The new Menuhin ."
La Monde de la Musique
"Rony Rogoff played beautifully with perfect technique
and sensitivity. A violinist of first rank."
Mahariv, Israel
"He reached perfection with his beautifully singing sound
in the elegiac, meditating basic atmosphere."
Politiken, Copenhagen
The Brahms Cycle (CD Edition), Neue MusikZeitung
»'Celibidache Equivalent'. In 1995 Rony Rogoff, favourite
soloist of Celibidache (he performed violin concertos by Mozart
and Bergwith the legendary Romanian conductor), founded his 'Scuola'
in Arcugnano near Vicenza. In the beginning rehearsals took place
on the premises of a former axe factory but soon the orchestra
took off with exemplary success. The results are immortalised
in the most gripping manner on 14 CDs (all recorded live) of
Brahms’ complete chamber music — a mamoth project.
These are like chamber music equivalent to Celibidache’s
symphonic Brahms, which is now also available from the late Munich
years — this is to be most overtly experienced in the grand
serenade, which Rogoff conducts himself...
The clear awareness of the function of all the manifold details
lets all the pieces unfold as 'logical', irreversible processes.
The main characteristics of every single movement, the development
of tension are the top priorities. Modulations are purposefully
directed to restraining clearness, the counterpointing network
is filled with logic transparency, sonorous, noble sound (1st
quintet!) and irresistable rhythmic vitality even in very slow
motion. I have never heard such organically coherent and musically
conscious performances in particular of the larger scored pieces.«
Frankfurter Rundschau, by Christoph
Schlüren
»'Musical heroism in the axe factory'. Debut of Scuola
di Rony Rogoff at the Bologna Festival Musica
Last November, in the small village Arcugnano near Vicenza,
the Scuola di Rony Rogoff was called into being on the premises
of a former axe factory and with the kind support of the
families of some members. The project progressed so terrifically
that observers from nearby Bologna were sent in order to consider
the future inclusion into the yearly festival. The festival
organisers agreed that there was no time to loose. However,
as the Bologna Festival Musica capacity was reached for the
traditional time schedule between April and June, it was
decided to have an appendix : for the first time the festival
was continued in September. Then five concerts on three evenings
were solely dedicated to the performances of the Scuola di
Rony Rogoff. The event was held in the venerable Teatro Comunale
and was considered continuously successful. Experts praised
the strong emphasis on works of the 20th century: Bartók, Schönberg,
Webern, Berg, Stockhausen - although all were specifically
matured in an intensive and long training, these were the first
official concerts of the Scuola. Among the highlights were
performances of Schubert’s octet proving highest refinement,
of Bartók’s 2nd quartet, demonstrating extraordinary
balance and the most natural realization of the four-part counterpoint,
and of course Rogoff’s performances, as a soloist in
Mozart’s G major concerto or Stockhausen’s Zodiac,
or as the impetuous conductor in Dvorák’s string
serenade which was played with immense coloristic luxury. The
technical standard satisfies first class demands and the artistic
potential is extraordinary. »
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