Almost unknown for years because of the general focus on Louis Vierne as an organ composer, the Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 42, of this student of Franck and Widor has been unearthed and has received at least a couple of recordings. The work is superb. For those wondering, it does resemble Vierne's organ music. It is highly chromatic, densely contrapuntal, and often built around lines that are introduced with each instrument playing a note of a large chord in sequence for a very organ-like effect. Beyond this is a highly personal quality that marries an intimacy akin to that of Janácek's chamber music to the monumental style Vierne inherited.
Samira Spiegel is an exceptional talent: she has won prizes at international competitions on both the violin and the piano! With GENUIN, she now presents an exciting album featuring music for both instruments inspired by Bach. On the piano, the works range from Franz Liszt's "Fantasie und Fuge" to Busoni's adaptation of the "Chaconne" and Francis Poulenc's "Waltz Improvisation" to Damian Scholl's "une fleuve tranquille" from 2013. On the violin, she juxtaposes Eugène Ysaye's fifth solo sonata, which is genuinely haunted by Bach, with the original "Chaconne" by the great Leipzig master. An adventurous and ludicrously virtuosic ride through styles and centuries!