“Sensation at the Berlin Festival…” [Complete Stravinsky violin works] “Paganini-like Violinist” —Helsingin Sanomat

“… a mixture of technical fireworks, emotional heat, and intellectual command the like of which is not often encountered in a debut.– composers should always be so lucky.” —Donal Henahan, The New York Times

“Triumph of intelligent artistry” —Die Welt

“Schulte … applies all his resources of brain, body and heart to the exploration of the music’s meaning, and the journey of exploration is as exciting as the discovery of what the destination has been.” —Richard Dyer, Boston Globe

“If his art were transmuted into dance, he would be a leading Balanchine dancer: the moves are precisely but not mechanically timed; destinations are exactly reached; dynamics of attack and repose are sure; and as he moves one’s mind moves with him. His tone is attractively lean, not fat and throbbing. What he does is beautiful.” —Andrew Porter, The New Yorker

“Schulte’s command of the difficult solo part was absolute; it was amazing playing, but no one could listen in amazement because this was no mere stunt. Schulte’s exact intonation over rapid shifts of register and position and his chameleon tonal qualities created a musical character of density, captivating quirk, and worthy substance – someone, in short, that we could care about. [Première of Donald Martino’s Violin Concerto] —Richard Dyer, Boston Globe

“If you’re ever going to have an Elliott Carter epiphany, then this might be the disc to bring it on. It’s not only spectacularly played and recorded–indeed, this performance of the Violin Concerto with soloist Rolf Schulte must be classed with the greatest violin and orchestra recordings ever made.”  —David Hurwitz, classicstoday.com

“The Four Lauds for Solo Violin alone make this recording worthwhile. Despite the amazing complexity of the music being performed, Schulte makes it sound almost easy. His technique is copious, his sound is engaging and multi-faceted, and his emotional output easily runs the gamut between ferocious and tender.” —Mike D. Brownell, All Music Guide

“…from the first rising line of the violin the air almost literally crackled with excitement.”  —Richard Binder, Telegraph

“He plays with keen virtuosity, demonic intensity, and a sound palette ranging from the silken to the disturbingly raw. Yet every phrase seems generated by a musically reasoned, intellectually resonant idea.” —Anthony Tommasini, Boston Globe

“…you immediately notice Schulte’s intense yet tight vibrato, which adds a lot to the energy and textural clarity of the score. Schulte is an outstanding soloist with an old-fashioned sound—like Francescatti or maybe even Schönberg’s commissioner Louis Krasner, only with better intonation.” —American Record Guide

“Webern’s Four Pieces were magnificently presented, both by Mr. Schulte and his accompanist, James Winn. They took exquisite care over detail and over matching one another in the quiet music, where the feeling was still but fully alive.” —Paul Griffiths, The New York Times

“…so farbig abgesetzten Nuancen der Tongebung, die Feinheiten zwischen einem spiccato, einem détaché, einem staccato volante, einem martelé, einem sautille. Und daneben die jedes Detail sensibel präzisierende Intensität, zu der gewiß ein Heifetz das Vorbild lieferte” —Heinz Josef Herbort, Die Zeit

Während das Divertimento, das Duo concertante und die Suite Italienne zu den häufig gespielten Kammermusikwerken von Stravinsky gehören, sind die hier aufgezeichneten Stücke aus der Nachtigall und dem Feuervogel sowie die Trio-Suite als Auskopplung aus der Geschichte vom Soldaten seltener zu erleben. Die sechs ausgewählten Werke auf zwei CDs zeigen deutlich, dass sich Stravinsky ein Leben lang mit Kompositionen für die Geige auseinandersetzte. Wenn auch hier nicht alles eingeflossen ist, so wird in dem Spiel von Rolf Schulte durchaus die Entwicklungen und Möglichkeiten, die Stravinsky für dieses Instrument nutzte, nachvollziehen können.

Der Geiger Rolf Schulte gehört sicherlich nicht zu denjenigen, die die Medien prägen. Dass er trotzdem einer der Großen seiner Zunft ist, zeigt diese Sammlung, deren Einspielung schon etwas zurückliegt. Schulte gelingt es, der Musik das zirzensisch Leichte mitzugeben, das diese Musik auszeichnet. Dabei setzt er nur seine famosen technischen Fähigkeiten in Klang um und hat dabei noch den Spielraum, die Musik zu formen, ohne virtuos plakativ agieren zu wollen oder zu müssen. Bei seinem Spiel wird die im Vergleich etwa zu Arnold Schönberg andere Herangehensweise von Stravinsky sehr deutlich. Während der Zwölftöner noch romantisch angehaucht schrieb, wirkt Strawinskys Musik konstruierter, wie beispielsweise in der kubistischen Kunst, ohne deswegen aber abstrakt oder leblos zu werden.

Schulte verfügt über ein enormes Potenzial, das er beeindruckend auslebt. An seiner Seite stehen hier der Klarinettist Hanns Deizner für die Suite aus der Geschichte vom Soldaten sowie die Pianisten Jeffrey Swann und David Levine, letzterer in der Suite Italienne. Sie sind die Gegenpole zur Geigenstimme, die sowohl den Halt als auch den Antrieb geben, dass sich der Geiger seinen Part ausformen kann. So geben alle Beteiligten den Werken dynamisch und motorisch abwechslungsreiche Konturen, die sie zu bildreichen Erzählungen verdichten. —Dr. Ingobert Waltenberger www.pizzicato.lu

While the Divertimento, the Duo concertante and the Suite Italienne are among Stravinsky’s most frequently performed chamber works, the pieces recorded here from the Nightingale and the Firebird, as well as the Trio Suite as an excerpt from The Soldier’s Tale, are more rarely experienced. The six selected works on two CDs clearly show that Stravinsky was engaged in compositions for the violin throughout his life. Even if not everything is included here, in the playing of Rolf Schulte one can certainly understand the developments and possibilities that Stravinsky used for this instrument.
The violinist Rolf Schulte is not one of those who are very popular in the media. That he is nevertheless one of the greats of his guild is shown by this collection, the recording of which dates back some time. Schulte succeeds in giving the music the circus-like lightness that characterizes this music. In doing so, he only translates his splendid technical abilities into sound and still has the leeway to shape the music without wanting or needing to act in a virtuosically striking manner. In his playing, Stravinsky’s different approach compared to Arnold Schoenberg, for example, becomes very clear. While the twelve-tone composer still wrote with a romantic touch, Stravinsky’s music seems more constructed, as in cubist art, for example, but without becoming abstract or lifeless because of it.
Schulte has enormous potential, which he exploits impressively. At his side here are clarinetist Hanns Deizner for the Suite from The Soldier’s Tale and pianists Jeffrey Swann and David Levine, the latter in the Suite Italienne. They are the counterparts to the violin part, providing both the support and the impetus for the violinist to shape his part. Thus all participants give the works dynamically and motorically varied contours, which they condense into narratives rich in images.

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CD „THE VIOLIN IN STRAVINSKY’S LIFE“ – ROLF SCHULTE, DAVID LEVINE,
JEFFREY SWANN, HANS DEINZER; A.R.