Franck, C: Violin Sonata in A major

This disc from the renowned Schubert Ensemble bring the spirit of the Paris “Belle Epoque” alive. Newly re-mastered recordings of Franck's Piano Quintet in F minor and his Sonata for violin & piano in A are performed with enthusiasm by the experienced Schuberts.

Franck was known as a man “enamoured of gentleness and consolation”, but these works tell a different story of an earthier man, less chaste, freed of starch and wing collar. Central to the quintet in particular was a woman; not Franck's dutiful wife, but a young student, Augusta Holmes “decorously rampant” and “possessed of bold beautiful features, abundant golden hair, and handsome breasts of which she was justifiably proud”. Rimsky-Korsakov admired her, but in Paris, Saint-Saens and Franck fought over her. Franck's wife would have known that the emotions so readily expressed in this Quintet were not for her, but for Augusta, Franck's “impure and seductive” organ student.

Both artists were child prodigies. Amanda Favier entered the International J S Bach Competition in Leipzig when she was only nine. She has won many prizes since then, gives international masterclasses and is often invited to be a jury member for competitions. Jean Dubé has been giving public performances since the age of four and performs as a recitalist and concert soloist throughout the world.

This Enescu Festival programme is a very interesting one, beginning with a ‘stepchild’ of the repertoire. Schumann’s music for violin and orchestra, intended for Joseph Joachim, has had even less exposure than his other violin music: the Concerto was buried in a library until the 1930s, when Joachim’s great-niece Jelly d’Arányi successfully lobbied for its release, and the fine C major Fantasy had few champions – Adolf Busch was one, playing it regularly, and Fritz Kreisler went to the trouble of making his own piano transcription. That is the version played here by Oistrakh and Yampolsky and it is new to the violinist’s discography. The Franck Sonata, on the other hand, featured frequently in Oistrakh recitals and he recorded it with both Oborin and Yampolsky, also leaving us three live versions with Richter. This performance captures him ‘on the wing’ when he was still in his prime. Karol Szymanowski knew the violin well – one of his dearest friends was the Russian-born Polish virtuoso Pawel Kochan´ski – and wrote two concertos, a sonata, a set of three Myths, a Nocturne and Tarantella and some short pieces for it. Oistrakh and Yampolsky made famous studio recordings of the sonata and The Fountain of Arethusa, but this is their only known document of the other two Myths. The pieces, written in 1915–16 with the encouragement of Kochan´ski – who assisted with the exotic violinistic effects – are among the treasures of the late Romantic repertoire but need first-rate players like these to reveal all their beauties. The same can be said of Ravel’s exciting Tzigane, composed for d’Arányi. We do have other Oistrakh recordings of it, including one with Yampolsky, but it is a piece which thrives on the frisson of a live occasion and here it meets a great virtuoso who can do it justice. Extract from the note © Tully Potter, 2008

Andreas Haefliger has produced two provocative and acclaimed mixed recital recordings for Avie in his series called Perspectives, juxtaposing standard repertoire with newer works and recreating his recital programs for posterity. On this new disc he is joined by his wife, leading American flautist Marina Piccinini, for an equally stimulating selection that is a pure partnership of equals. Each takes a solo turn – Piccinini with Debussy’s Syrinx and Haefliger with the Liszt arrangement of Wagner’s Liebestod – and they come together for two titans of the flute repertory, the Sonatas of Franck and Prokofiev. To quote MusicWeb, “Programming in this way is in itself an art,” and with such polished performances a recording with obvious appeal.