César FRANCK (1822 – 1890) Violin Sonata in
A (1886) [28:00]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809 – 1847) Violin Sonata in F (1838) [23:49]
Manuel de FALLA (1876 – 1946) Danse espagnole (La Vida Breve)
(1913) (arr. Fritz Kreisler) [4:43]
Antonin DVORÁK (1841 – 1904) Slavonic Dance No.2 in E minor
(1878) (arr. Fritz Kreisler) [3:40]
Uri Pianka (violin); Timothy Hester (piano)
rec. January 2008, Studios of KUHF, Houston Public Radio, Texas. DDD
ROMÉO RECORDS 7272 [60:38]
César Franck’s Violin Sonata is one of those pieces which are simply
too beautiful. They seem to transcend the medium in which they exist. What
we hear is not a Violin Sonata but a hymn to the perfection of the musical
art. As with Guillaume Lekeu’s slightly later Sonata – and what a coupling
that piece would be for the Franck – this music is very special. It is filled
with wonderful soaring tunes, brilliantly and gratefully laid out for the
players. The whole is free from romantic angst. My relationship with this
work, over some 45 years, has been akin to a love affair, so perfect a partner
to my life is this music.
Uri Pianka is a fine player, indeed I cannot fault his technique for it is
just about flawless. However, I question his interpretation of the Franck
for it is very hard driven. There is little light and shade and it isn’t until
about half way through the slow movement that he finally relaxes and allows
himself to enjoy the lyricism. His tone is very full, perhaps too much so,
for I want my lover, here, to yield to her occasional winsomeness. Pianka
likes to push the music forward somewhat ungraciously; the finale, in particular,
is totally lacking in charm. The Mendelssohn receives the same hard-driven
treatment, and here, in the cooler, more precise classical mood I find Pianka’s
wide vibrato to be very annoying. The little encore pieces are in the same
vein. They appear on the disk in the reverse order to the listing in the booklet
and the rear inlay.
Part of the trouble with this disk is the recording, which is very forward.
There’s no space between you, the listener, and the performer. It’s as if
he’s in the room with you, but so close as to be overwhelming. The performers
would have been better served if the engineers had allowed some room for the
sound to expand into.
There’s a lot of competition for the Franck and you cannot do much better
than go for the excellent performance by Sergey and Lusine Khachatryan (Naïve
V5122, coupled with the Shostakovich Sonata). The Mendelssohn is well served
in a recording of the composer’s complete music for violin and piano by Nicholas
Milton (leader of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) and Nína-Margrét Grímsdóttir
(Naxos 8.554725).
Bob Briggs