Marina Tarasova - French Cello Sonatas Vol. 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Born in Lille, Édouard Lalo (1823-1892) studied the violin before leaving home for good, against his father's will, to enter the Paris Conservatoire. Having graduated without family support, he began to make a living in the capital as an orchestral violinist and violist and as a member of the Quatuor Armingaud (from 1855), one of many such ensembles which sprang up within a culture of chamber music that was then supported by the foundation of the Société nationale de musique. Lalo's Cello Sonata in A minor is relatively unknown, despite it's obvious beauty and clear Schumannesque qualities. Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire with Jules Massenet and Fauré. He composed frequently, producing a huge opus of well over 200 works, and in a fluent style distinguished above all by it's melodic invention, with supple and eloquent melodic themes. In that regard, the spirit of Fauré is never far away in the Cello Sonata Op.66 - allusive, imbued with a retrospective spirit which unfolds into a kind of accompanied recitative, quintessentially cellistic. Koechlin wrote the Sonata in October 1917 in a flurry of chamber-music activity. Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937), also an alumnus of the Paris Conservatoire, was a successful musician and won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1882. Pierné became one of the most influential musicians in Paris, more at the time through his conducting than his composing. He introduced audiences at the Concerts Colonne to countless premieres of lasting significance, and was one of the principal conductors for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, conducting the world premiere of Stravinsky's Firebird. Pierné's single-movement Cello Sonata in F sharp minor is in a cyclical form, following the example of Franck and Liszt.

Albéric Magnard and Louis Vierne Two French Masters of the Cello Sonata. The early years of the twentieth century were a time of transition in French music. While impressionism was gaining ground through Debussy and Ravel, some composers remained faithful to the ideals of structural clarity and expressive depth inherited from the Romantic tradition. Among these figures were Albéric Magnard and Louis Vierne, two artists whose sonatas for cello and piano, both composed in 1910, stand as monuments of French chamber music and offer contrasting yet complementary visions of their era. Albéric Magnard, born in Paris in 1865, was a pupil of Dubois, Guiraud, Massenet, and D'Indy at the Paris Conservatoire, and he frequented the circle of César Franck. In 1896 he became a teacher at Paris's Schola Cantorum. Then, from 1904, he settled in the countryside on his estate at Manoir des Fontaines in Baron (Oise), where he died in 1914, shot by German troops while attempting to defend the property. His last chamber work, the Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 20, is among his most significant compositions. Composed between 1908 and 1910, it is structured in four movements like all his chamber works, betraying his devotion to German contemporaries and in opposition to French impressionism. Louis Vierne (1870-1937), having been taught by César Franck and Widor, became a famous organist. His most important post was that of Notre Dame in Paris, where he was celebrated for his improvisations. As a composer, he indulged in the post-Wagnerian language of his era highly complicated counterpoint, dense, chromatic harmonies, and an exalted, spiritual atmosphere characterise his works. Vierne's Sonata for Cello and Piano in B minor Op. 27, composed in 1910, offers a fascinating counterpoint to Magnard's work. While Magnard emphasizes formal clarity, Vierne indulges in lyrical expansiveness and har

This third instalment in Brilliant Classics' French Cello Sonatas series features the phenomenal composer Louise Farrenc (1804-1875), who is enjoying a much deserved revival amid contemporary focus on women composers, and the enigmatic and formidable Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888), renowned for his complex compositional language and extreme piano virtuosity.Farrenc was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and a teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a wide variety of piano music. Her Cello Sonata in B-flat, Op.46, in three movements, was one of her last compositions (1859). The treatment of the two instruments, especially the piano, with it's extensive use of tremolo, broken octaves and scale passages, indicates inspiration taken from Beethoven's cello sonatas as a model. The opening movement, Allegro moderato, glides along effortlessly. A lovely Andante sostenuto, full of ornamentation serves as the middle movement. The finale is a lively Allegro.The work of French composer and virtuoso pianist Charles-Valentin Alkan possesses a unique blend of complexity, innovation and emotional depth, positioning him as one of the most distinctive Romantic composers. Known for his formidable technique and reclusive nature, Alkan's compositions were marked by their technical demands and unorthodox structures, attracting both admiration and mystique. His Cello Sonata in E, Op.47 stands out as an example of his flair for blending instrumental colour and thematic development. Composed in 1856 (three years before Farrenc's), this piece is an intriguing exploration of the cello's expressive range, juxtaposed with the piano's virtuosic potential. It is structured in four movements, each showcasing the composer's penchant for unexpected turns and rich harmonies. The first movement introduces a lyrical y