Franck - Piano Rarities: Original Works and Transcriptions | Grand Piano GP906

Franck - Piano Rarities: Original Works and Transcriptions

£13.25

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Label: Grand Piano

Cat No: GP906

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 2nd December 2022

Contents

About

Few composers have enjoyed a late flowering to compare with that of César Franck. Many of the great works in this recording were composed during his final decades and still stand today as powerful representatives of French music in the post-Franco-Prussian War period. The influence of Wagner can be heard in the poetic evocations of Les Éolides, while the magnificent Prélude, Choral et Fugue, much admired by Liszt, reinterprets well-known Baroque-era genres into an unforgettably expressive Romantic aesthetic. Widely acknowledged as one today’s great interpreters of French music, Jean-Pierre Armengaud presents an album of rarities composed for piano by Franck and arrangements of the composer’s works by distinguished musicians from the early 20th century.

César Franck is renowned for a handful of works from his later years, particularly the Symphony in D minor, and the Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major. Recorded here is the renowned Prélude, Choral et Fugue, but this programme also includes rarely heard and première recordings of several arrangements for piano, including the famous organ work Prélude, Fugue et Variation, op.18, arranged by Harold Bauer. This casts a wide net, allowing us to discover new aspects of Franck’s output while enjoying superb performances of some of his greatest music.

Jean-Pierre Armengaud is considered a leading interpreter of French music and a specialist in impressionist and expressionist repertoire, and is renowned for his ‘fluidly supple playing, his round and mellow tone’ (Classica). As a concert artist his programmes are notable for the extent and variety of their repertoire. He has appeared in major concert halls around the world, performing in over 40 countries, and given masterclasses at leading conservatoires. His albums for Naxos and Grand Piano feature music by Debussy, Roussel, Poulenc, Aubert, d’Indy, Dutilleux and others. As a musicologist and writer he has published a biography of Erik Satie (Fayard, 2009, which won the 2009 Prix des Muses) and a book of essays on Debussy, Claude Debussy: La trace et l’écart (L’Harmattan, 2018). He has been director for musical programming at Radio France and is associate professor at the Paris-Sorbonne University and professor emeritus at the University of Évry Val d’Essonne at Paris-Saclay University.

Jean-Pierre Armengaud is acknowledged as one of the great interpreters of French music ranging from Rameau to Henri Dutilleux, whose Préludes he has premiered in a number of countries. He has recorded for several international labels, and previous Grand Piano releases include works by Dutilleux (GP790) considered by MusicWeb International to be ‘sparkling and convincing… this is a valuable issue’. This source also acclaimed Armengaud’s recording of Vincent d’Indy (GP756) as ‘exemplary… this is an important recording’, and his first volume of piano music by Albert Roussel on Naxos (8573093) was admired for its ‘excellent piano sound, highly-accomplished playing and idiomatic sense of style.’

This release coincides with the 200th anniversary of César Franck’s birth, on the 10 December 2022.

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