On this double SACD, "Paths into Impressionism" are taken: starting with the two important Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Gabriel Faure, the first of which was already described as a masterpiece by Camille Saint-Saens, and four other short pieces by Faure, the great Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger and the German pianist Michael Korstick, who is already very familiar with the French idiom through many of his own recordings, present further works from the French and Belgian repertoire in their usual masterly and spirited interpretations: the Sonata by the early deceased Guillaume Lekeu, which was commissioned and premiered by Eugene YsaÃ¿e, and Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano (with a Blues as the middle movement), which is characterized by Ravel's view that violin and piano were fundamentally incompatible. The resulting manifold parallel developments and bitonal frictions create specific stimuli, though without showing even the slightest hint of the music falling apart. Ravel's "Kaddish" and the "Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure", dedicated to his teacher, can also be heard, as well as the Sonata by Francis Poulenc, written in collaboration with Ginette Neveu and dedicated posthumously to Federico Garcia Lorca, and the fascinating work "Theme et variations" by Olivier Messiaen, which he dedicated to his first wife, a violinist, and which still contains many impressionistic elements.

Tracklist:

Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 1 A-Dur Op. 13 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13~I. Allegro molto
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 1 A-Dur Op. 13 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13~II. Andante
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 1 A-Dur Op. 13 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13~III. Allegro vivo
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 1 A-Dur Op. 13 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13~IV. Allegro quasi pres
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 2 e-Moll Op. 108 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108~I. Allegro non trop
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 2 e-Moll Op. 108 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108~II. Andante
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier Nr. 2 e-Moll Op. 108 / Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108~III. Final. Allegro
Romance pour violon et piano Op. 28
Andante pour violon et piano Op. 75
Sicilienne pour violoncelle/violon et piano Op. 78
Berceuse pour violon et piano Op. 16
ThÃ¨me et variations pour violon et piano
Sonate fÃ¼r Klavier und Violine / Sonata for Piano and Violin~II. TrÃ¨s lent
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~I. Allegretto
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~II. Blues. Moderato
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~III. Perpetuum mobile. Allegro
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~I. Allegro con fuoco
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~II. Intermezzo. TrÃ¨s lent et calme
Sonate fÃ¼r Violine und Klavier / Sonata for Violin and Piano~III. Presto tragico

UPC: 9003643993365
Label: Gramola
Release Date: 3.7.25
Format: CD

Faure / Lekeu / Korstick - French Violin Sonatas (Hybr) (CD)