This recording offers a new perspective for listening to the twelve pieces for organ by César Franck. The approach taken by the three performers Joris Verdin, Cindy Castillo and Bart Verheyen was to conform as closely as possible to the time and the circumstances in which the pieces played here were composed. They have limited themselves to assimilating and then to applying as far as possible the source material of that period, which at the same time presupposes turning a deaf ear to everything that has been said and written since Franck’s death. Compiling the present program offered the opportunity to produce two discs with a carefully considered choice of both program and instrument, a choice which does not necessarily correspond to the usual sequencing of Franck’s oeuvre. Here we present two symphonic organs with very different colors and in very different acoustics, played by different personalities who have one important thing in common: their fascination with Franck.

FRANCK: Great Organ Works, Vol. 2

Ben van Oosten’s impressive discography of French organ music has somehow neglected one very important person: Cesar Franck. Now the Dutch organ wizard fills this glaring gap with a marvelous show of virtuosity on four releases bringing together the whole of Franck’s organ oeuvre, from his early efforts to the three great masterpiece cycles. Once again van Oosten performs on the legendary L’Orgue a Michel-Ange in St. Ouen’s Cathedral in Rouen. Today this organ, one of Aristide Cavaille-Coll’s most magnificent instruments, is preserved in its original state. Cavaille-Coll and Cesar Franck were close friends. Franck tested many brand new organs in Cavaille-Coll’s workshop and wrote the Trois Pieces for the inaugural concert of the Trocadero Organ on the occasion of the World’s Fair in 1878. Good fortune for posterity: Franck’s premiere manuscript with the original registrations is extant and offers outstanding insights into his idea of sound. This idea is shaped essentially by the colors of a symphony orchestra. As he wrote to Cavaille-Coll, “My organ, it is an orchestra!” However, Franck’s beginnings as a pianist are in full evidence: broad chords and accompaniment arpeggios like those in the Fantaisie in A major are rather untypical of organist’s hands. It is thus that Franck developed a unique personal style. Ben van Oosten conveys all of the aforementioned in remarkable fashion.

Franck's Piano Concerto No. 2, composed when he was just 13 (an earlier attempt was destroyed), previously was available on a 1990 Schwann disc that even then was overdue for replacement. Martijn van den Hoeck gives an agile and accomplished reading here, one that fully justifies buying this CD even if you already have the other works on the program. The recording was made in the Musis Sacrum in Arnhem, whose fine Philharmonic Orchestra previously made a strong impression in its first contribution to Naxos' Franck survey. This follow-up gives the rarely played concerto a much needed new lease on life, and in every way this is a considerable advance on the Schwann version by Jean-Claude van den Eyden, whose cautiously under-stated manner suits this volatile and extrovert work less well than van den Hoeck's gutsy, powerfully animated style. The Schwann production also suffers from technical flaws in both outer movements, and keyboard detailing in the adagio is poorly reproduced by the dimly-lit recording.


On this Naxos disc, which shows van den Hoeck in exceptional form in the concerto's virtuoso finale, the sound is rich, spacious, and very detailed, with the piano placed slightly back, just as you'd expect in a concert hall. François-Joël Thiollier is soloist in the remaining works, and he gives estimable accounts of each. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, his performance of the Symphonic Variations doesn't quite attain the poise and flow of the Decca version by Bolet, Chailly, and the Concertgebouw (let alone Rubinstein/Wallenstein on RCA). But Thiollier possesses an assured technique and a firm grasp of structure, making this a very useful interpretation, especially if you don't already have this work in your collection. Recommended.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

Following the release of their highly praised Naxos recording of Faure' Piano Quintets - 'warmly expressive, their phrasing generous and intense' - Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet again join forces for this recording of Franck' Piano Quintet.

In Venice, with the carnival in full swing, the Duke of Pesaro arranges for his lieutenant Spadoni to abduct the beautiful Leonor. To make the young girl love him, he has hired Stradella, a famous singer and singing teacher. The Duke, however, is unaware that Stradella loves and is loved in secret by the beautiful girl. The lovers will be pursued by Pesaro's men all the way to Rome.

"Stradella" was probably composed between 1841 and 1842 (César Franck was just 21 years old) and is probably the result of his early experiences as accompanist to the Italian tenor Mario Bordogni. The opera has come to us virtually complete, as a piano score with some hints of orchestration. Luc van Hove orchestrated it and Stradella was thus staged for the first time at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie on 19th September 2012. Indeed the revival of this stunning opera provides an important tile in the mosaic of the artistic personality of one of the protagonists of 19th-century.

Paolo Arrivabeni,conductor - Jaco van Dormael, stage director, Marcc Laho (Stradella), Isabelle Cabatu (Leonor), Werner van Mechelen (Spadoni), Philippe Rouillon ( Pietro), Giovanni Iovino (Michael), Patrick Mignon (Beppo) Roger Joakim (Un officier)

César Franck’s Violin Sonata is the diamond solitaire of the violin literature. Incomparable lyrical wealth forms a bold contrast when it meets the wildest intensity. Here formulaic violin composition and empty virtuosity are nowhere to be found; the challenging violin part and the incredibly high velocity of the piano part mean that the musicians have to give their all. This work is also popular with cellists, and the outstanding qualities of both stringed instruments form a perfect union in David Riniker’s brand-new version for piano trio.

Shortly prior to his death Franck kept a resolution that he had made many years before. His Trois Chorales creates the impression of a legacy in which he repeatedly refers to his great model Bach.

The phenomenal bass register of MDG’s “Manfred Bürki” Steinway concert grand piano of 1901 offers a profound foundation, and Kolly’s skillful hands even produce what is actually impossible – 32’ sounds! This high-resolution SACD recording guaranteeing genuine three-dimensional listening pleasure in the home with MDG’S 2+2+2 sound is the perfect complement to this suggestion.

Alice ADER is widely reckognized for her eminently personal approach of the piano scores. Her mixture of personal engagement and respect for the composers (which has made of her a favourite performer of many contemperaneous composers such as Messiaen, Jolivet, Nunes or Hersant) has given birth to several extraordinary recordings, as were her Debussy's for Pianovox. Fuga Libera is glad to welcome her for new projects. Founded in 1994, the Ader Ensemble has also produced some memorable discs (Fauré, Chausson with Bernarda Fink, Messiaen...). All have been multi-awarded ! And this is no surprise, as every recording project, for Alice Ader and her group, is a groundly thought-after project, where everything has to be tightly controlled in order to approach perfection as nearly as possible. When touching to three of Franck's most remarkable masterworks, they reach their goal: in these great cyclical architectures, their vision combines in a spectacular way an analytical approach with a impassioned sentimental spirit.

This disc received the 1999 Cannes Classical Award for "Best Solo Instrumental or Chamber Recording - 19th Century."

Nineteenth century Belgian composer César Franck was an extraordinarily talented keyboard player. He enjoyed a short stint as a touring virtuoso before moving to Paris. At the Paris Conservatoire Franck studied piano under Pierre Zimmerman and composition with Aimé Leborn. After leaving the Conservatoire in 1842 he gained a formidable reputation as an improviser performing on organs built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. In 1858 he became an organist at Sainte-Clotilde - a position he retained for his entire life. Then in 1872 Franck accepted a professorship at the Conservatoire.

Julia Severus began playing the piano at the age of four and graduated from the Berlin University of Arts and from Moscow Conservatory with a Ph.D. on J. S. Bach’s Articulation Practice. With the Aurora Quartet she has performed Rodion Shchedrin’s Hommage à Chopin, and their recordings for two pianos, eight hands, of Russian Romantic piano transcriptions (Naxos 8.557717) and of Norwegian contemporary composers have been highly acclaimed. Severus has also recorded Tchaikovsky’s ballet suites (Naxos 8.570418) with Alina Luschtschizkaja and Bizet’s piano solo works (Naxos 8.570831/2). In this recording Severus excels and shows immense skill as an interpreter and flair as a performer.

A fullness of sound is achieved in this recording, which captures the malleability of these piano pieces. Known for his gigantic hands - Franck was capable of spanning twelve white keys on the keyboard - Franck’s compositions demand impressive dexterity and astonishing range. This recording mediates between these qualities.

Beginning with mild pastoral sounds, in a typical 6/8 ballade metre, Franck’s Ballade, Op. 9 springs to life in the syncopated second scene which demands dignity and fervent sincerity on behalf of the pianist; in this Severus does not disappoint. Bucolic calm is supplanted by storms and trickling brooks by oceanic tumult. Severus exudes the vigour and precision required to convey this emotive contrast. In this section Severus evokes and manages to control a frantic tension and frenzy which can also be heard in Jean-Gabriel Ferlan’s exquisite 1993 recording. Quickly rounding off this piece with a stretto, Franck employs a Lisztian-Wagnerian cyclical structure as he reconciles the initial oscillation between serenity and disquiet. Much like his Symphony in D minor, Franck’s Ballade is an ever shifting piece of modulating themes and changing harmonies. Severus plays with an intelligent simplicity, avoiding melodrama in favour of concentrated contemplation.

Remaining faithful to the original, Franck’s Transcriptions of Four Schubert Songs, Op. 8 are subtle yet intense pockets of feeling, recorded here for the first time. With great dynamic range and colour these pieces are elegant and earthy. Severus plays Die Forelle (The Trout) with enlightened freshness and in a mere two minutes manages to reawaken this tired melody. This performance of Des Mädchens Klage (The Maiden’s Lament) evokes Friedrich von Schiller’s striving sense of hope through the sentiments of loss and desolation felt by the Maiden in his poem. With the sorrowful maiden we sit ‘While she cries out her woe - to the gloom of the storm / Her eyes brimming over - her tears flowing on and on’ (‘Und sie seufzt hinaus in die finstre Nacht, / Das Auge vom Weinen getrübet’).

As a tribute to Poland,and dedicated to the Princess de Ligne, Franck’s Fantasy on Two Polish Folk Songs, Op. 15, ricochets between promise and despair. Again, Severus alludes to the poetic source of this piece and evokes Philo’s ‘light in the midst of night’ (‘O O swiatlo moje wposrod tej nocy!’) from Franciszek Karpi?ski’s sentimental poem entitled Laura and Philo.

Franck was a deeply religious and spiritual man. His Souvenirs of Aix-la-Chapelle, Op. 7 consists of polyphonic structures which swing between A flat minor and A flat major. These transform from a pianissimo four-part chorale to fortissimo double chords and organ pedal octaves. Not flummoxed by this complex interweaving and metamorphosis, Severus dexterously blends Franck’s admixture of tenderness and sublime awe.

– Lucy Jeffery, MusicWeb International

Includes work(s) for organ by César Franck. Soloist: Joris Verdin.

FRANCK COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS • Hans-Eberhard Roß (org) • AUDITE 21413 (6 CDs: 411:46)


When it comes to the organ, I think it’s safe to say that César Franck is the most important composer since Bach, and here we have a survey of Franck’s organ music so complete that it would take an entire page to list the entire contents of these six discs in standard Fanfare headnote format. In fact, there’s not another collection in existence this complete—not Jean Guillou’s, Marie-Claire Alain’s, Anthony Newman’s, or anyone else’s—since whole discs full of items here are flagged as being premiere recordings, premiere recordings for organ, premiere complete recordings, or premiere complete recordings for organ. So, I have decided to describe the set’s contents on a disc-by-disc basis. Let me forewarn the reader, though, that this is a release dedicated to the doggedly determined among lovers of organ music in general and Franck’s organ music in particular.


Organist Hans-Eberhard Roß performs all 142 pieces on a single instrument, the Goll organ at St. Martin’s Church in Memmingen, Germany. I haven’t been able to find any detailed information on the organ builder, but the enclosed booklet gives the following specifications for the organ: built in 1998, it has four manuals plus pedal, controlling 62 registers. The recordings were made between 2004 and 2005 and were originally released in three two-disc sets in SACD. The boxed-up, six-disc set that came to me for review was on standard, two-channel CDs.


One criticism I will lodge about the presentation is this: the track listings for every piece give the date it was composed, the date it was published, and which of nine editions Roß uses. This last bit of information about the editions may be of interest to the musicologist or scholar studying Franck’s organ works, but more interesting to the general listener, I think, would have been a concordance of stops and registrations used for each piece, something I’ve seen in the notes to other organ recordings, and something that ought, I think, to be material to an undertaking of this seriousness.


Disc 1 starts off with a first-time recording of Pièce en mi bémol ; i.e., Piece in E?. Of course, you’d have to listen to it to know if it was major or minor, but I’ll save you the effort. It’s more or less both, opening with a chord progression that eerily anticipates the ear-curling pronouncement at the beginning of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto. This is followed by another early work, Pièce pour Grand Orgue . It’s not asterisked as a premiere recording but is nonetheless absent from current listings except for this version. Several more early works fill the first disc, all dating from between 1854 and 1856. There are five pieces by Franck originally written for harmonium and transcribed for organ by Louis Vierne, and this is their first time on record. Also a first on record is a first version of a Fantaisie in C Major. Its second version, apparently not a first on record, is also included on the disc. Roß, himself, has transcribed the harmonium piece, Quasi Marcia , op. 22, and plays it here for the first time on organ.


If it’s mainly a CD of Franck’s big organ hits you want, you would be happy with just disc 2. They’re all there in one place: the Fantaisie in C Major, op. 16, the Grand Pièce Symphonique , op. 17, the Prélude, Fugue, et Variation , op. 18, the Pastorale , op. 19, Prière , op. 20, and Final, op. 21.


Disc 3 contains no fewer than 39 short pieces collected under the heading of Posthumous Pieces for Harmonium or Organ with Pedal for L’Office Ordinaire . This spills over onto disc 4, which contains another seven pieces that are part of the same collection. The fourth disc is then filled out by Three Pieces for Grand Organ , a Petit Offertoire , and an Untitled piece, that last two of which were both originally for harmonium. The entire contents of discs 3 and 4, with the exception of the Three Pieces for Grand Organ , are flagged with three asterisks (***), referencing the fact that they are heard here for the first time complete on organ.


Disc 5 and almost all of disc 6 are occupied by Franck’s answer to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier , the sets of Pieces for Organ or Harmonium. The number seven must have held some mystical significance for Franck because there are nine sets of these pieces, each containing seven numbers, beginning with 7 Pieces in C Major and C Minor , progressing to 7 Pieces in D?-Major and C?-Minor , then to 7 Pieces in D Major and D Minor , which he subtitles, Pour le temps de Noël , and so on. The cycle stops after the 7 Pieces in A?-Major and G?-Minor , leaving the keys of A, B?, and B unexplored. There’s nothing mysterious or supernatural about the reason; Franck died before he was able to finish the project. The entirety of the Pieces for Organ or Harmonium is also thrice asterisked, meaning this is its first complete recording on organ. The final disc in the set concludes with the 3 Chorales for Grand Organ.


At first, I was a bit skeptical of how Franck’s organ music would sound on a modern, German-built instrument. It’s difficult to disassociate these works from the Cavaillé-Coll organs that inspired them. Much of this music, in fact, was composed during Franck’s tenure as organist and maître de chapelle at Sainte-Clotilde between 1858 and 1872. Of the three-manual plus pedal Cavaillé-Coll organ installed in the church, Franck is quoted as saying, “If you only knew how I love this instrument . . . it is so supple beneath my fingers and so obedient to all my thoughts.”


Concluding the 63-page booklet note by Martin Weyer (translated by Viola Scheffel) is a lengthy apologia in defense of playing these works on a Goll organ. The author twists himself in knots talking about the historical period-instrument movement and then tries to turn the argument on its head by explaining why this modern Goll instrument is an appropriate substitute for a Cavaillé-Coll organ and Franck’s music. “Upon hearing the instrument,” Weyer contends, “one will discover a lot of similarities to the sort of instrument that Franck found inspiring.” One could counter that many an organist has recorded Franck’s organ works on authentic Cavaillé-Coll instruments, and that if organist Hans-Eberhard Roß had betaken himself to France to make these recordings, he could have done likewise. But, as far as I’m concerned, the point is irrelevant. Roß is a consummately accomplished player who uses the richly variegated palette of the Goll organ to paint Franck’s pieces in an amazing array of tonal color combinations both bright and subtle, and the acoustic of Memmingen’s St. Martin church, perfectly captured by Audite’s engineers, is ideal. Franck and Cavaillé-Coll are nodding their heads in approval.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

This CD features rare but beautiful repertoire from Franck.

With this new release, AEOLUS continues its successful collaboration with the organist Elke Völker. Playing the great Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ (1857/1889) of the basilica of Bonsecours, the artist now devotes herself to a few early works of César Franck. This is a largely neglected repertoire, which originated even before today's well-known Franck organ works. In addition to the outstanding interpreter, the choice of the previously rarely recorded instrument and the AEOLUS recording technology have made this recording a must for connoisseurs and lovers of late-romantic organ music. Elke Volker is a German organist, church musician, and musicologist who studied at the universities of Mannheim, Mainz, and Heidelberg. From 1996-2008 she served as Choir Organist and Cathedral Music Associate at the UNESCO Heritage St. Mary’s Imperial Cathedral of Speyer. In 2009 she was nominated as Interim Music Director and Cathedral Organist. She is also the founder and Artistic Director of the “Internationaler Orgelherbst Deidesheim” and the Russian “International Organ Festival Philharmony Perm.”

Audite continues its series of recordings of the works of Eduard Franck with a pair of principal works of his chamber music production. The two String Quartets deliver convincing proof of the Mendelssohn pupil's compositional mastery and count as exemplary in terms of realising the creative possibilities of the genre around 1870. The two Quartets, probably composed at about the same time, reveal a striking difference in character: the C minor Quartet, Op. 55 emphasises excited, dramatic gestures and attains great musical consistency, whereas the E-flat major Quartet is characterised by a far more differentiated stylistic variety - from reminiscences of Haydn to the dramatic 'Adagio molto espressivo' of the second movement. The Edinger Quartet attaches great value to the task of making little-known masterworks accessible to the public and has especially intensively dedicated itself to the chamber music of Eduard Franck.