Franck, C: Violin Sonata in A major

César Franck’s passionate and sunny violin sonata has long been regarded as one of the greatest in the repertoire, and is the work of a composer at the height of his powers. Richard Strauss’s violin sonata, composed a year after Franck’s in 1887, is the work of a young composer on the cusp of discovering his mature voice; lyrical and sumptuous, it has all the hallmarks of his later style. This disc includes two Franck rarities – 'Mélancolie' and the 'Prelude, Fugue and Variation' Op.18, originally for organ, heard here in an arrangement by Augustin Dumay and Louis Lortie.

The distinguished violinist and conductor Augustin Dumay and pianist Louis Lortie – recently desribed as ‘mesmerising’ by the New York Times – are now a regular partnership, and this recording marks the duo’s debut recording. Their programme of Franck and Strauss concludes with the wonderful Heifetz arrangement of Strauss’s song ‘Auf stillem Waldespfad’.

Dumay has a busy ONYX schedule this year with a CD of four great Mozart violin sonatas, in which he is joined by Maria João Pires, and as conductor and soloist in Brahms’s Serenade No.1 and the two Beethoven Romances with his Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jascha Heifetz has been described as the ‘greatest twentieth-century exponent of his instrument’ (Gramophone). Critics admired his technical agility and the myriad nuances of his playing, qualities that made him one of the most iconic violinists of his era. This set includes a selection of concertos and sonatas that showcase Heifetz’s versatility and his extraordinary ability to capture the particular character of each piece in his repertoire.

Tabea Zimmermann and Kirill Gerstein return to the studio to record the follow-up to their highly praised first duo album. The new disc includes spellbinding performances of three late works by significant 19th century composers: Brahms mature Sonata in F minor, Schubert‘s melancholic Arpeggione sonata, and Franck‘s splendid Sonata in A major, all masterly performed on viola. This new disc explores three works by major 19th-Century figures, each written during the composers’ final years. All three works on the new recording were originally composed for an instrument other than viola.

One of Brahms’ final chamber works, the dramatic Sonata in F minor, was intended for clarinet, though Brahms himself adapted the work to the range and technical possibilities of the viola. Also near the end of his life was Franz Schubert when he wrote his superb 'Arpeggione' sonata. The work was commissioned by a friend of the composer’s, who requested a sonata for a new kind of instrument: the arpeggione, a hybrid between the cello and the guitar. Written just four years before his death, César Franck’s A major sonata is also beloved by cellists but has been rarely heard from violists.

Tabea Zimmermann is one of the leading contemporary viola players worldwide. Awarded the Echo Klassik as Instrumentalist of the Year in 2010, Zimmermann has recently been Artist in Residence at the Cologne and Luxemburg Philharmony, as well as the Kunstfest Weimar, Bozar Festival Brussels and the Elbphilharmonie Konzerte in Hamburg. Of her recent disc of Bach and Reger solo suites, Gramophone wrote: “here is playing full of warmth, of depth, of meditation and of full maturity … gorgeous.”

Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein has quickly proven to be one of today’s most intriguing young musicians. Recipient of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, Gerstein’s solo release on myrios classics, featuring music by Schumann and Liszt, was played, according to The New York Times, “with exquisite technique, refined musicianship and engrossing imagination”, and was shortlisted by the NY Times’ Holiday Gift Guide as one of the 25 best classical recordings of 2010. This SACD release from myrios classics is available from harmonia mundi UK on January 14, 2013, as is the back catalogue.

This is Joshua Bell’s first CD of Sonatas on Sony Classical and it is a passionately nuanced interpretation of works from Saint-Saëns, Franck and Ravel. Joshua Bell is one of the world’s most successful violinists and has won multiple Grammy awards, was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize and named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. Bell was recently named Music Director for the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields becoming the first person to hold this title since Sir Neville Marriner founded the Orchestra in 1958.

Often referred to as the “poet of the violin”, his 2004 album Romance of the Violin was named the “Classical CD of the Year” by Billboard Magazine, with Bell named “Classical Artist of the Year.”

The three Sonatas chosen for this disc are very different though linked extraneously through their inherent national style:

The Saint-Saëns sonata remains one of the most exciting sonatas in the repertoire; the feverish finale is guaranteed to bring the house down. Bell’s recording of César Franck’s Violin Sonata allows him to pay homage, through his mentor Josef Gingold, to the two great artists who created this undying masterpiece. Written 125 years ago, at the height of the French Belle Epoque for the wedding of his friend, the virtuoso Eugene Ysaÿe (with whom Gingold studied). Ravel’s more fantastic sonata offers a kaleidoscope of different thrills, as seen in the unexpected yet beautiful blending of genres in the slow “Blues” movement of his sonata.

“French Impressions is the culmination of my last decade of exploration and performance with pianist Jeremy Denk, and I hope that with this recording we can affect the listener with the same joy and spiritual enrichment that these masterpieces have provided us with over the years.” Joshua Bell

After winning two of the world's biggest violin competitions in the last couple of years, this talented young player releases his new album, featuring x10 recordings. These are some of his personal favourites & include works by Bach, Wieniawski, Tartini & Franck. Strong press support across Gramophone "One To Watch", other classical music mags & broadsheets.

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.

Canadian pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre has a sparkling international career. Violinist David Lefèvre is hailed for his talent, passion and musical versatility. He has recently made his debut at Carnegie Hall.

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