Franck Poucell

Duos don’t always have the temperament for the smouldering fires of Franck as well as the sudden whims of Debussy. Dumay and Pires join the select few. They take their time to find Debussy’s opening pulse, but they establish an individual, thoughtful freedom that ‘speaks’ sensuously and assertively. In the finale, they let unexpected passion grow from the central waltz, setting up a brilliant final flourish. Implicit in the initial, floated phrases of the Franck is a sense of the arduous journey to come. Intensity surges up by degrees towards the soul-torturing struggles at the sonata’s centre, and recedes before a gradual return of serenity and confidence.

Franck Pourcel & his Grand Orchestra.
French violinist Franck Pourcel is best-known for his jazzy string arrangements of pop hits, as well as his lush easy listening arrangements and film scores.
By 1958, Pourcel started recording classical music. His series of Pages Célèbres led him to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoire, The BBC Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and the Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

French violinist Franck Pourcel is best-known for his jazzy string arrangements of pop hits, as well as his lush easy listening arrangements and film scores. Initially, Pourcel studied classical violin at the Paris Conservatoire, but he found the allure of jazz irresistible. In particular, he was an idol of Stephane Grappelli. Following his studies, he joined a number of jazz combos, which led him to his role as the leader of the French Fiddlers, whom he joined in the late '40s. The French Fiddlers were a group of violinists that performed jazzy versions of classical numbers or classical arrangements of pop and jazz tunes. They signed to Pathe-Marconi and continued to refine their sound so they could reach a broader audience. The group earned their first hit in 1952 with a version of "Blue Tango"…

After Franck, Debussy and Strauss, Mikko Franck and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France here continue their collaboration with Alpha Classics, this time with the spotlight on Igor Stravinsky. The programme begins with two pieces from his so-called ‘neo-classic’ period: his Capriccio and Octet. In the first, in which Stravinsky sets up a dialogue between piano and orchestra, the soloist is one of the great stars of the new generation, the French pianist Nathalia Milstein. Then the mood darkens, with the primitive rhythms and ferocious chordal attack of The Rite of Spring , a work that Mikko Franck has long since wanted to immortalize on CD: a major masterpiece of the 20th century and an essential milestone for every orchestra. Every single player seems to be on fire in this recording, which puts the seal on seven years of collaboration and achievement with its Finnish Music Director.

Half Baroque, half contemporary, half French, half British: that is the challenge taken up here by Franck-Emmanuel Comte and Le Concert de L'Hostel Dieu. This recording presents in the same program pieces by Lully and by Purcell, together with contemporary creations by the Frenchman David Chalmin, inspired by Purcell, and by the British composer Martyn Harry, inspired by Lully. Both contemporary composers combine the sounds of Baroque instruments with their own expression, thus removing borders and engaging in a dialogue involving different periods and different languages. Axelle Verner lends her mezzo voice and unique personality to the vocal pieces in this program.

This CD features two quite lovely piano quintets, beautifully played by a quartet of players from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Clifford Curzon at the piano. The first piece is by Antonin Dvorak, who composed two piano quintets. The first of these is a relatively early work that Dvorak composed in 1872 when he was 31. The second of his quintets was composed only 15 years later and remains one of his most popular chamber works. The other piece on the CD is by César Franck and, along with his other major chamber works - the violin sonata and the string quartet - reminds the listener of the atmosphere of Franck's best known work, the symphony in d minor.

Saxophone/vibraphone duos are few and far between in jazz, and without having done any in-depth research, I’d venture to say that while this one is not absolutely unprecedented – it was preceded by another duo by Franck Tortiller with baritone saxophonist François Corneloup – it remains a rarity.

Cesar Franck's passionate and sunny Violin Sonata has long been regarded as one of the greatest in the repertoire, and is the work of a composer at the height of his powers. Richard Strauss's Violin Sonata, composed a year after Franck's in 1887, is the work of a young composer on the cusp of discovering his mature voice; lyrical and sumptuous, it has all the hallmarks of his later style. Performed here by distinguished violinist and conductor Augustin Dumay and French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie, this recording marks the duo's recording debut. In addition to the sonatas, this album includes two Franck rarities - Melancolie and the Prelude, Fugue and Variation Op.18 for organ, heard here in an arrangement by Dumay and Lortie. The recording concludes with the wonderful Heifetz arrangement of Strauss's song Auf stillem Waldespfad.