DANIEL ROTH - SOLOIST ORGAN CONCERT IN THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ANASTASIA 31. 8. 2024.

31.08.2024

The third summer organ concerts as part of the First "St. Anastasia Organ" Festival in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia were held on August 31, 2024, starting at 8:00 p.m.

A world-renowned French organist, composer, musicologist and pedagogue has arrived to visit us. He was the titular organist of the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris from 1985 to 2023, and is currently the titular organist emeritus.

Daniel Roth, widely acclaimed as one of France's leading organ virtuosos, has held several prestigious positions both as a performer and as a teacher. At the age of twenty, he made his organ debut at the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre-Paris, as an assistant to his teacher, Madame Rolande Falcinelli. He later succeeded her as titular organist, a position he held until 1985 when he was appointed titular organist at St-Sulpice, the famous Parisian church where his predecessors had been Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. In 2023, he was named "Titulaire Emérite" and plays the organ on Sundays and holidays.

Daniel Roth, as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, studied with Professors Marie-Claire Alain and Maurice Durufé. He won several competitions, including the Grand Prix de Chartres in 1971, in interpretation and improvisation. After teaching at the conservatories of Marseille, Strasbourg and the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule, he was professor of organ at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt am Main from 1995 to 2007. Daniel Roth was also artist in residence at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and head of the Organ Department at the Catholic University of Washington, D.C. He is invited to give concerts as a soloist and with renowned orchestras. He also gives master classes and sits on the juries of organ competitions around the world. On 11 November 2005 he played at the dedication of the new organ by Karl Schuke (Berlin) in the Concert Hall "Grand Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte" in Luxembourg, for the construction of which he was artistic advisor. As a composer and performer, Daniel Roth has several works for organ, for flute and organ, choir and organ. The city of Ludwigshafen (Germany) commissioned him a piece for orchestra. "Licht im Dunkel" was first performed in this city in May 2005 and in Paris, St Etienne du Mont in April 2006 under the direction of his son François-Xavier Roth. The work published by Schott has since become a triptych with the title "Licht im Dunkel" 1st movement L'espérance, 2nd L'Amour, 3rd La Joie.

For his compositions, he received the Florent Schmitt Prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Institut de France). Daniel Roth is also known for his brilliant improvisations, which he regularly includes in his concert programs. He has many recordings covering works from the 17th century to the present day. Several of them have been critically acclaimed. He is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Officier des Arts et Lettres, an honorary member of the Royal College of Organists, and in 2020 he received the RCO Medal (London). In 2006, he received the European Prize for European Sacred Music from the Schwäbisch Gmünd Festival (Germany). He is an honorary member of the German Society of Friends of the Organ. He was awarded the Grand Cross of Albert Schweitzer for services to the arts during the European Organ Academy in Königsfeld, Germany, in 2009.

On the Eisenbarth Cathedral organ in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia, Daniel Roth performed the following program:

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium und Fuge G-Dur BWV 550

Johann Sebastian Bach

Schmücke dich o liebe Seele BWV 654

Cesar Franck

Piece Héroique

C. Saint Saens

Fantaisie en re bémol majeur Des-Dur

Charles-Marie Widor

Symphonie no. 5

Allegro vivace