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Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Louis Vierne; César Franck - Violin Sonatas (Alina Ibragimova; Cédric Tiberghien)


Information

Composer: Louis Vierne; César Franck; Eugène Ysaÿe; Lili Boulanger
  • (01) Ysaÿe - Poème élégiaque, Op. 12
  • (02) Franck - Violin Sonata in A major
  • (06) Vierne - Violin Sonata in G minor, Op. 23
  • (10) Boulanger - Nocturne

Alina Ibragimova, violin
Cédric Tiberghien, piano

Date: 2019
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68204

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Review

While we’re not short of top-drawer recordings of Franck’s Violin Sonata, I’m still not sure whether I’ve ever encountered it sitting within such a musically and musicologically tempting programme as this one from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien. Not, I might add, that the Franck Sonata should necessarily be seen as the main event here, despite its fame. Au contraire, one of the chief draws is the way it sits in equal balance within the whole, each work informing and being informed by its neighbours.

To deal first with the programming, all paths (or almost all paths) lead back to the great French violinist Eugène Ysaÿe: his Poème élégiaque of 1892, based on the tomb scene of Romeo and Juliet, followed by the Franck Sonata, which was a wedding present to him in 1886, and the 1908 Violin Sonata he commissioned from Franck’s fellow organist-composer Louis Vierne. Then a final petit four in the form of Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne, written only three years after the Vierne but ushering in a new era with its slightly leaner aesthetic and its final little quotation from Debussy’s L’après-midi d’une faune.

As for the actual sound, superb playing and ravishing engineering intertwine here to stunning effect. It’s a modern set-up – Ibragimova on a 1775 Anselmo Bellosio strung with metal, with Tiberghien on a very beautiful and relatively new Steinway D – and it serves as a reminder that you don’t necessarily need period instruments to bring a lightness and air-filled delineation to these densely textured late-Romantic works. (In fact, note here that if your personal taste is for something slightly lusher-textured or bigger-boned then you may wish to stick with Dumay and Pires, or perhaps Hadelich and Yang).

Still, listen to the sombre depth and steadily direct tone Ibragimova brings to the Poème élégiaque’s central grave et lent section, and the rich sonority of Tiberghien’s accompanying death knells. Or the gripping passion with which Ibragimova delivers both its soaring long lines and its virtuoso moments.

Moving on to the Franck, soak up the weightless, time-suspended softness with which they begin: from Ibragimova a sweet, even sound that’s light-toned without being lightweight, supported by a touch from Tiberghien at the keyboard that sounds like mellow, amber-hued raindrops, and all the while a gradual crescendo and strengthening of tone from both so subtle that it happens almost imperceptibly. Another joy is the expansive third movement with its succession of contrasts between crescendos to climaxes – which come long-spun, unegged and noble from Ibragimova – and the softest and sweetest of pianissimo dolcissimo interludes. Then after that, hear the further contrast provided by the final movement’s sunny-hued velocity.

The Vierne Allegro risoluto equally showcases sharper-edged energy, and yet more golden tenderness with its Andante sostenuto. Add the palette-cleansing Boulanger, and this is wall-to-wall wonderful.

-- Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Mar/Franck_violin_CDA68204.htm
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=16451
https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/alina-ibragimova-cedric-tiberghien-vierne-franck-ysaye/8784.article
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/85072/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/vierne-franck-violin-sonatas-ysa%C3%BFe-po%C3%A8me-%C3%A9l%C3%A9giaque-mw0003238404
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vierne-Franck-Ibragimova-Tiberghien-Hyperion/dp/B07KLTV9F9

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Louis Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. Vierne served as an assistant to the organist Charles-Marie Widor, and subsequently became principal organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, a post he held from 1900 until his death in 1937. Vierne had an elegant, clean style of writing that respected form above all else. His harmonic language was romantically rich, but not as sentimental or theatrical as that of his early mentor César Franck. His output for organ includes six organ symphonies, several chamber works, vocal and choral music, and a Symphony for orchestra.

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César Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. As an organist he was particularly noted for his skill in improvisation. Franck is considered by many the greatest composer of organ music after Bach. Franck exerted a significant influence on music. He helped to renew and reinvigorate chamber music and developed the use of cyclic form. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, his pupils included Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Guillaume Lekeu and Henri Duparc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Franck

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Alina Ibragimova (born 28 September 1985 in Polevskoy, Russian SSR) is a Russian-British violinist. She studied under Valentina Korolkova at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow, then under Natasha Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. Ibragimova was a member of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme 2005-2007. She has been the recipient of a number of awards including the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2010. She performs on a c.1775 Anselmo Bellosio provided by Georg von Opel, and has recorded several albums for Hyperion label.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alina_Ibragimova
http://www.alinaibragimova.com/

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Cédric Tiberghien (born 5 May 1975) is a French pianist. He studied piano with Michèle Perrier in Noyon, and with Frédéric Aguessy and Gérard Frémy at the Paris Conservatory, where he received the Premier Prix in 1992, at the age of 17. He won a number of international awards, such as 6th prize at the 1995 Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv and Premier Grand Prix at the 1998 Marguerite-Long-Jacques-Thibaud Competition in Paris. From 2005 to 2007, Tiberghien is part of the New Generation Artists of the BBC. He recorded severals recordings for Harmonia Mundi and Hyperion.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9dric_Tiberghien

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