Patrick Davin - House of the Sleeping Beauties - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The pieces in the present collection give a virtually complete idea of Franck's quality as a piano composer. We have selected from his early works only those which seemed to indicate most faithfully that somewhat neglected period in his life. We have included all the piano compositions of his later years. From the early works we have chosen the Grande Sonate op 10 (unpublished) written at the age of thirteen years, the Eglogue (1842), the Grand Caprice (1843), the Ballade (1844) and Trois petits riens (1846) (unpublished) preceding them with César Franck's three first efforts in composition. The mature style of the master is shown in his four most important piano works, the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue (1884), Les Djinns for piano and orchestra (1884), Variations symphoniques for piano and orchestra (1885), the Prelude, Aria and Finale (1886), and also in two short pieces, Plaintes d'une poupée (1865) and Danse lente (1885), written for special occasions. Though the latter are simple in style and technique, they show none the less the unmistakable stamp of Franckian melody.

The two leading operatic composers of their time were Rossini and Auber, one now fêted, the other largely overlooked. In 1831 Auber and his long-standing librettist Eugène Scribe produced Le Philtre, which took the concept of petit opéra to the extreme, even outdoing Rossini's Le Comte Ory in depicting a rural setting peopled not with Arcadian shepherds but with ordinary country folk. Auber's Franco-Italian style can be heard in the work's ensembles, while elsewhere the opera shimmers with rich arias, buffo elements and delightful cavatinas. Le Philtre was an unalloyed success receiving 243 performances and inspired Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Album Tracks 1. Philtre~Ouverture 2. Philtre~Act I. No. 1 Introduction et Ballade Térézine. Amis, sous cet épais feuillage 3. Philtre~Act I. No. 1 Introduction et Ballade Térézine. La reine Yseult 4. Philtre~Act I. No. 1 Introduction et Ballade Térézine. Récitatif Ah! qu'un philtre pareil 5. Philtre~Act I. No. 2 Marche et Air Joli-Coeur. Marche 6. Philtre~Act I. No. 2 Marche et Air Joli-Coeur. Je suis sergent 7. Philtre~Act I. No. 2 Marche et Air Joli-Coeur. Récitatif et Choeur Je suis fière d'un tel hommage! 8. Philtre~Act I. No. 3 Air Térézine. La coquetterie fait mon seul bonheur 9. Philtre~Act I. No. 3 Air Térézine. Récitatif Guéris-toi, me dit-elle! 10. Philtre~Act I. No. 4. Choeur. Est-il possible d'être insensible 11. Philtre~Act I. No. 5 Air Fontanarose. Quel brillant équipage! 12. Philtre~Act I. No. 5 Air Fontanarose. Récitatif et Choeur Messieurs, pour vous prouver 13. Philtre~Act I. No. 6 Air Guillaume. Philtre divin! 14. Philtre~Act I. No. 6 Air Guillaume. Récitatif Quel délire nouveau! 15. Philtre~Act I. No. 7 Duo Térézine-Guillaume. Je sais d'avance son langage 16. Philtre~Act I. No. 7 Duo Térézine-Guillaume. Récitatif Que vois-je? 17. Philtre~Act I. No. 8 Trio et Final

Album Tracks 1. Clavier-Übung I (1731) BWV 825-830 2. - Partita I (B Flat Major, BWV 825) 3. - Partita II (C minor, BWV 826) 4. - Partita VI (E minor, BWV 830) 5. - Partita III (A Minor, BWV 827) 6. - Partita IV (D Major, BWV 828) 7. - Partita V (G Major, BWV 829)