Ronald Gorevic

“The Genius of Ysaÿe” presents several masterpieces by the legendary Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), including three world premiere recordings – the first recording of his recently discovered Introduction for Solo Viola, as well as the world premiere recordings of Ysaÿe’s final versions of his Two String Trios for violin, viola and cello (Op. 33 and Op. 34). Ysaÿe’s marvelous Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 28 is also among the gems on this album, in addition to his most wellknown masterpiece – the “Ballade” (Sonata No. 3) from his Six Sonatas for Solo Violin Op. 27. The performers of this splendid album – violinist Elmira Darvarova, violist Ronald Carbone and cellist Samuel Magill – have been involved for years with Ysaÿe’s String Trio No. 1, Op. 33, also known as “Le Chimay” (a work, hailed in the press as one of the greatest chamber music compositions of the 20th Century), and they presented its New York premiere in 2008.

The 32 Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven are often referred to as the ‘New Testament’ of the keyboard literature, following on the ‘Old Testament’ of J.S. Bach's 48 preludes and fugues in the Well-Tempered Clavier. Composed over a period of almost three decades, from 1795 to 1822, the sonatas constitute a fascinating panorama of an artistic career which underwent numerous changes – not to say upheavals – but nevertheless remained remarkably consistent.

Ronald Brautigam presents two of Franz Schubert’s late masterpieces, the Sonatas D 959 and D 960. They are played here on a fortepiano built by Paul McNulty after an instrument from around 1819 by the Viennese instrument maker Conrad Graf and presumably similar to the instrument on which Schubert composed. Although it is tempting to see Schubert’s final works as the testament of a doomed artist who feels his end is nearing, the reality is quite different: the composer displayed vitality, optimism and a prodigious capacity for work. His last two sonatas also show that he had reached a new level, having successfully emancipated himself from the Beethovenian model.

La Dame de mes Songes, Dulcinea, as sung by Alexandre Arnoux and Jacques Ibert in the third of the four Songs of Don Quixote (1932), is La Dame de mes songes. It could also be Spain, as dreamed of, at least occasionally from the 1830s to the 1930s, by most French composers who usually reduced it to Andalusia and what they believed to be flamenco. If they stop over in Andalusia, the performers of this disc also travel to Old Castile, Extremadura and Murcia with the help of composers such as Henri Collet, Federico García Lorca, Emiliana de Zubeldía or Raoul Laparra and Jacques Ibert.

In his time Pierné was hugely successful as composer, conductor and organist—a sort of latter-day Saint-Saëns, and indeed his music is very reminiscent of that composer. The earliest three works on this CD were all written between 1885 and 1890 and could easily be mistaken for the older composer, the piano concerto even follows the unusual layout of Saint-Saëns' 2nd piano concerto in having a scherzo but no slow movement. The Poëme symphonique of 1903 is harmonically more daring and reminiscent of Franck. This work is a true orchestral symphonic poem with the piano fully integrated into the musical argument, it is also perhaps the most impressive work on this disc and its obscurity is inexplicable.