Fiddler's Blues

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

This duo’s rapport comes across in sparky performances. Premieres of pieces by Ysaÿe are a draw, but the Enescu sonata and Hora Unirii are a real treat and leave you feeling anything but blue. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2019, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Feb 2019
Catalogue No: AV2399
Label: Avie
Length: 68 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Ysaÿe: Sonate posthume pour violin seul, Op. 27

Work length9:26

$3.00

$4.20

$5.25

Philippe Graffin

I. Allegro molto moderato ma con brio

Track length3:39

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

II. Canzona - Lento e mesto

Track length3:30

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

III. Finale - Giocoso (completed P. Graffin)

Track length2:17

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major

Work length17:18

$3.50

$4.90

$6.10

Philippe Graffin, Claire Désert

I. Allegretto

Track length7:44

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

II. Blues - Moderato

Track length5:26

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

III. Perpetuum mobile - Allegro

Track length4:08

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Debussy: Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune

Work length5:15

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Philippe Graffin

Ysaÿe: Petite Fantasie Romantique

Work length5:10

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Philippe Graffin

Enescu: Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25 'dans le caractère populaire roumain'

Work length26:18

$4.50

$6.30

$7.80

Philippe Graffin

I. Moderato malinconico

Track length9:20

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso

Track length8:25

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

III. Allegro con brio, ma troppo mosso

Track length8:33

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré

Work length2:53

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Philippe Graffin

Enescu: Hora Unirei

Work length1:51

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Philippe Graffin

About
Reviews
Explore

About

The world-premiere recording of Eugene Ysaye’s “Posthumous” solo violin opens the album Fiddler’s Blues, the latest collaboration between violinist Philippe Graffin and pianist Claire Desert. What follows is an ingenious intersection of works by Paris-based violinists, composers and friends - Debussy, Enescu and Ravel.

Philippe Graffin’s virtuosity combined with his skills as a sleuth have led to the world-premiere recording of a “Posthumous” solo violin sonata by Eugene Ysaye, an astonishing discovery that extends the Belgian composer’s canon of his essential six sonatas for the medium. Philippe unearthed the nearly-completed manuscript in the library of the Brussels Conservatoire, and polished off the final movement in the most Ysaye-esque manner possible. Philippe’s pechant for intuitive programming is brought to bear on Fiddler’s Blues, combining two Ysa e works - including another premiere, the Petite fantasie romantique - with a pair of folksy, Bohemian-flavoured works by George Enescu, another virtuoso violinist/composer who emigrated from his native Romania and like Ysaye settled in Paris.

Enescu was a classmate of Maurice Ravel whose Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure is an affectionate nod to their teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, whilst his azure-tinged Violin Sonata influences the album’s title. Ravel’s slightly older contemporary Claude Debussy befriended Ysaye. Whereas Ysaye soared writing works for solo violin, Debussy wrote none. Suggesting how such a work may have sounded, Philippe contributes his own arrangement for solo violin, made together with David Matthews, of Debussy’s enduring piano piece Claire de lune.

The media campaign for this album already includes a major feature in The Strad.

Reviews

May 2019

This duo’s rapport comes across in sparky performances. Premieres of pieces by Ysaÿe are a draw, but the Enescu sonata and Hora Unirii are a real treat and leave you feeling anything but blue.

April 2019

The big story here is the first recording of a previously undiscovered seventh unaccompanied violin sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe…Played with flourishing panache and easy command, it makes an electrifying opening to this deceptively titled recital: essentially a survey of the early 20th-century Parisian scene…There’s a real feeling of dialogue.

Fiddler's Blues

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue