Philippe Graffin, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Marisa Gupta
Description
Reves, the new album by acclaimed French violinist Philippe Graffin, features two world-premiere recordings of freshly discovered concertos by Belgian virtuoso violinist and composer Eugene Ysaye - the complete Violin Concerto in E Minor and Poeme Concertant. Rounding out this beautiful album are gems for violin and piano: 2 Mazurkas de Salon, Op.10, and Reve d'enfant.
The world-premiere recording of the complete Violin Concerto in E Minor by Belgian virtuoso violinist and composer Eugene Ysaye has arrived! Following the recent discovery of a first movement, further manuscripts which complete the work have come to light - one a full orchestration, others for violin and piano - which were found on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Philippe Graffin's close collaboration with Ysayoe aficionado Xavier Falques led to a page-by-page analysis and painstaking reconstruction of the musical puzzle pieces, resulting in this recording of the full, three-movement concerto which displays Ysayoe's trademark ardour, intensity and originality. For reasons unknown, Ysayoe abandoned his Violin Concerto in E minor in 1885, but some years later embarked on another, Poeme concertant, which was also recently discovered in manuscript form and is imbued with passion and the love Ysayoe felt for his pupil Irma Sethe. Their love was mutual but their relationship could not endure, possibly sealing the fate of Poeme concertant which lay undiscovered for over a century but is now brought back to life with this world-premiere recording. Philippe rounds out the recording with three Ysayoe gems for violin and piano: 2 Mazurkas de Salon, Op.10, works the violinist / composer frequently performed and gained popularity throughout Europe and Russia in his lifetime; and Reve d'enfant ("A child's dream"), which he dedicated to his youngest son Antoine.
"an enjoyable swagger and sweep … Philippe Graffin is fully committed: agile, with a lean tone which in the quieter and sweeter passages takes on a confiding intimacy that I found very persuasive … delightful" - Gramophone
"Graffin despatches these virtuosic compositions with passionate intensity and inspired brilliance, and his capacity to bring out all the pyrotechnical details of the soloist's part is indeed awesome." – Classical Music Daily
Tracklisting
Christoph Croise; Andrey Baranov; Alexander Panfilov
The Orchestra Now; Leon Botstein
Donald Berman
Lauren Scott
East of the River
Sebastian Bohren, Sergei Bolkhovets, Munchener Kammerorchester
Cantata Collective; Nicholas McGegan
Yoshika Masuda, HyeJin Kim
Rafael Catala, Musica Iberica
Malcolm Sargent, Mary Lewis, Tudor Davies, Maggie Teyte, Clive Carey, Marie Howes, Harry Plunket Greene, James Johnstone
Lina Tur Bonet, Musica Alchemica
Johanna Domotor; Meesun Hong Coleman; Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Hans-Christoph Rademann, NDR Chor Hamburg
Eduardo Eguez, La Compagnia del Madgriale
Christoph Timpe
Chorwerk Ruhr, Florian Helgath
