Fanny Clamagirand - Works for Violin & Piano 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Once dubbed 'the French Mendelssohn', Camille Saint-Saëns was a prodigiously gifted composer of sophisticated and appealing music much of which has been unjustly neglected in recent times. His three highly inventive violin concertos abound in unforgettable melodies and foreground the soloist with many virtuosic and lyrical passages. The young Parisian violinist Fanny Clamagirand, who won First Prize at the 2007 Monte Carlo Violin Masters Competition, the competition of competition winners, is an ideal interpreter of this gorgeously Romantic music, while under the inspired direction of Patrick Gallois Sinfonia Finlandia provides accomplished support. Album Tracks 1. I. Allegro Non Troppo 2. II. Andantino Quasi Allegretto 3. III. Molto Moderato E Maestoso 4. Violin Concerto No. 1 in a Major, Op. 20 5. I. Allegro Moderato a Maestoso 6. II. Andante Espressivo 7. III. Allegro Scherzando, Quasi Allegretto

Florence Price reached her musical maturity in Chicago during the 1930s - the decade in which she made a famous debut with the city's orchestra and produced two substantial concertos. The Piano Concerto in One Movement contains some of her most beautiful music set alongside moments of Romantic bravura. Violin Concerto No. 1 seems never to have been performed during her lifetime but is the most expansive of her concertos and is richly orchestrated. The later Violin Concerto No. 2 is a much more compact work, cast in one expressive movement. Dances in the Canebrakes, originally for piano, evokes 19th-century African American life, heard here in William Grant Still's orchestration. Album Tracks 1. Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major~I. Tempo moderato 2. Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major~II. Andante 3. Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major~III. Allegro 4. Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major 5. Piano Concerto in One Movement in D minor~Andantino (Quarter Note = 92) - 6. Piano Concerto in One Movement in D minor~Adagio cantabile (Quarter Note= 76) (bar 220) - 7. Piano Concerto in One Movement in D minor~Andantino (bar 319) - Allegretto 8. Dances in the Canebrakes~No. 1. Nimble Feet 9. Dances in the Canebrakes~No. 2. Tropical Noon 10. Dances in the Canebrakes~No. 3. Silk Hat and Walking Cane

Saint-Saens's early unfinished Violin Sonata is testimony to his remarkable precocity as a child. His music's universal appeal is demonstrated in adaptations of his Bach influenced Suite, Op. 16, the gracious Romance, Op. 48 and one of his most famous pieces Le cygne (The Swan). The Second Violin Sonata follows classical forms, while the Meditation is notable for an affecting melody that builds beautifully to an intimate conclusion. Volume 1 can be heard on Naxos 8.572750. Acclaim for Fanny Clamagirand's playing includes her 'brilliant advocacy' of Saint-Saens's three Violin Concertos (Strings Magazine on 8.572037). Album Tracks 1. Violin Sonata No 2 in E Flat Major, Op 102 2. Suite in D minor, Op 16 3. Romance in C Major, Op 48 4. Le Cygne (From Le Carnaval Des Animaux XIII) 5. Violin Sonata (Unfinished) 6. Méditation