Kyung Wha Chung - Beau Soir (Faure, Franck, Debussy, Elgar, works for violin & piano) The centrepiece of this French-themed recital by Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner is the splendid violin sonata by Cesar Franck. It is a work long associated with Chung, described by the Financial Times as "one of the greatest violinists of the last half-century". Newer to Chung's repertoire is Faure's Sonata No 1. As she told Strings magazine, each of the works constitutes "a whole portrait of life itself," and she drew a comparison with Monet's paintings: "The reflection of light has endless possibility. The same thing applies to the texture and the sound when you're playing. There are millions of sounds."

Almost 50 years after his first DG recording of Franck's symphony with the Orchestre de Paris, Barenboim now presents a new interpretation with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the outer movements in particular, he focuses on the large, monumental sound that emphasizes the hymnal aspect of Franck's symphony which fuses the spirit of Beethoven with French elegance. CD Digipak.

SOMM Recordings continues it's long collaboration with pianist Leon McCawley, named "one of today's most impeccably musical pianists" by International Piano. His past recordings for SOMM include much-admired releases of piano music by Chopin; Barber (Critics' Choice in Gramophone); Brahms (Classic FM CD of the Week); Schumann; Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes; Haydn Sonatas and Variations (awarded a Diapason d'Or); Schubert; three further volumes of Haydn Sonatas; and the 2024 release Natural Connection, about which Gramophone wrote: "This scintillatingly varied recital combines sensuous virtuosity, compelling charm and musical probity. Highly recommended." In this recital McCawley presents some of his old favourites by composer-pianists Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin, and Franck. While the recital focuses on 19th century composers, the programme begins and ends with a nod to J.S. Bach. Among Bach's works that Franz Liszt revered were his six organ preludes and fugues. In transcribing them for piano, Liszt became a major influence on later arrangers. Heard here is the first in the set, Prelude and Fugue in A minor. The Piano Sonata in C major, Op. 53, "The Waldstein," by Beethoven-dedicated to his friend and patron, Count Ferdinand von Waldstein-comes from his aptly named "Heroic" period. It was written in 1804, two years after the watershed moment of his Heiligenstadt Testament, when he had contemplated suicide because of his encroaching deafness, but instead made the profound choice to channel his despair into a bold new musical style. The "Waldstein" Sonata is a vivid expression of this newfound path and of Beethoven's ability to transcend personal adversity to create ground-breaking works of deep complexity. One of the renowned "out-takes" of musical history is Beethoven's Andante favori. He originally intended it as the slow movement of his "Waldstein" Sonata, but he substituted it with a shorter adagio labelled "Introduzione." He had formed an attachment to the piece, though, and he published it as a stand-alone work, including it frequently in subsequent recitals. In an engaging piece of programming, Leon McCawley pairs it here with the "Waldstein" Sonata. Two introspective works by Chopin follow. The Berceuse is a series of continuous contemplations on a simple, nocturne-like theme. In the Barcarolle, Chopin's affinity to the bel canto operatic style is strongly apparent, especially in the beautiful, florid figurations in the right hand. Leon McCawley closes his beautifully curated recital with the Prélude, Choral et Fugue for solo piano by César Franck. Franck was trained as a pianist, but he served as an organist at Paris's Sainte-Clotilde Church from 1858 until his death in 1890. Inspired by the rich, orchestral sound of the Cavaillé-Coll organ there, he developed a grandiose, improvisatory style of keyboard writing that was harmonically influenced by Bach but thoroughly romantic in expression.

On the concept album, "l'Experience Franco-Suedoise", the Sweden-based French harpist, Delphine Constantin-Reznik and Swedish soprano, Sabina Bisholt present music by Swedish composers who went to Paris to study around the last turn of the century, as well as music of their French teachers. Guest musicians are violinist Cecilia Zilliacus, clarinettist Dan Larsson, and bassoonist Roman Reznik. World premiere recordings, not least of women composers, mixed with some evergreens such as Camille Saint-Saens's "The Swan", arranged for harp in different settings.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to present Vol. 1 in a new series that offers remastered performances of George Szell in New York. This first volume features live performances of Franck's Symphony in D minor and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 from CBS Radio air checks made at Carnegie Hall with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York-an earlier moniker of the present-day New York Philharmonic Orchestra. These recordings come from the extensive music collection of producer and master sound restoration and remastering engineer, Lani Spahr, who also provides highly conversant liner notes for this album. When George Szell (1897 - 1970) was appointed the Cleveland Orchestra's fourth music director in 1946, and spent the next 24 years of his legendary tenure honing it into one of the finest music ensembles in the world, his name became synonymous with the orchestra. To this symbiotic relationship, he brought his formidable experience with a variety of orchestras in both his native Europe and the United States. Szell's first conducting experience in America was in 1930, when he made his debut with the St. Louis Symphony. In October 1939, he and his wife, Helene, arrived in New York, having decided to wait out the war in the United States. Though initially finding himself in the unusual position of having no work, Szell started to receive guest-conducting offers from orchestras around the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His star began it's rapid rise in New York with his engagement at the Metropolitan Opera in 1942, and he made his debut with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York on the Fourth of July 1943. His relationship with the Philharmonic would span 27 years. Szell conducted the Symphony in D minor by Cesar Franck over 20 times in the United States. His first performance with the Philharmonic in New York was on 28 February 1948, and the last was 6 April 1970. This present live recording comes from 6 December 1953. From the early 1950s, the Symphony No. 2 in D major by Jean Sibelius was a staple of Szell's programming, and he performed it more than 60 times. He conducted it with the Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall on 15 and 16 January 1953, and again on 18, whence this broadcast originates. In the minds of many, the orchestra that George Szell honed in Cleveland would never be equalled for it's disciplined execution, unparalleled clarity, and unanimity of phrasing. Lani Spahr makes the interesting observation that '[w]hen listening to these recordings it becomes obvious that the Philharmonic was, at this time, a superior orchestra, top to bottom, to what Szell was in the process of building in Cleveland.' It is SOMM's privilege to make these recordings available, newly restored.

Andre Cluytens (1905-1967) was known for flowing elegance, fidelity to the score, and temperament without any trace of showmanship. He was the first Frenchman to conduct at Bayreuth, made the first complete recording of Beethoven's symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, and was also a frequent and welcome guest in Lucerne. In 1954, he met the young Igor Oistrakh and earned standing ovations with Khachaturian's brilliant Violin Concerto and Franck's Symphony in D minor.

With the present release the gifted Belgian Quatuor Danel ensemble turn to two masterpieces by Cesar Franck: his passionate Piano Quintet and the String Quartet. The three-movement Quintet, like Brahms’s op. 34 an expansion of the Schumannian model, is one of Franck’s most infamous works. It immediately established itself, and a second performance with the pianist Marie Poitevin, the later dedicatee of the Prelude, Choral et Fugue, convinced the members of the Societe Nationale. Franck’s String Quartet, his last major work, was similarly acclaimed by its first listeners. After its first performance in April 1890, with tears in his eyes, Cesar Franck is said to have told his pupil Vincent d’Indy, "Now you see: at long last the public is beginning to understand me."

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REVIEW:

Both of these works have been admirably served on disc, but this new recording is the most gripping yet - and by a long shot. Urgently recommended.

– Gramophone

The third installment of Rendez-vous with Martha Argerich brings together captivating recordings from the international Festival Martha Argerich in Hamburg, showcasing an extraordinary lineup of soloists. Among the highlights are several first collaborations on record, notably between Martha Argerich, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mischa Maisky, but also between Martha Argerich and Maria-João Pires. Many other prestigious guests include Renaud Capucon, Nelson Goerner, Gidon Kremer, Tedi Papavrami, Akiko Suwanai and Michael Volle. Particularly note-worthy is the deeply emotional interpretation of Brahms' second viola sonata, marking the poignant final public performance by the dearly missed pianist Nicholas Angelich, with violist Gerard Causse. All in all, this boxset stands as a jubilant tribute to the unparalleled artistry of Martha Argerich and to the incredible array of musical friendships she has develo-ped through the years.