The Ysaye Connection - Raphael Wallfisch - cello, John York- piano,

ID: CC1009 (EAN: 5023581100926)  | 1 CD | DDD
Released in: 2002

LABEL:

Cello Classics

Collection:

Chamber Music

Subcollection:

Piano and Cello

Composers:

FRANCK, César Auguste | LEKEU, Guillaume | YSAYE, Eugéne

Interprets:

WALLFISCH, Raphael (cello) | YORK, John (piano)

Other info:

Franck, C: Cello Sonata in A major
Lekeu: Cello Sonata in G
Ysaye: Cello Sonata Op. 28 /Rêve d'enfant, Op. 14

Raphael Wallfisch (cello) & John York (piano)

Raphael Wallfisch and John York perform sonatas by Eugene Ysaye, and two fellow Belgian composers most associated with him, Cesar Franck and Guillaume Lekeu.
Cesar Franck’s ever popular Sonata in A is given a stirring performance here by the Wallfisch/York duo in their first recording for Cello Classics. Recorded in the peace and tranquillity of Champs Hill, West Sussex this is the first recording Rahael made using the Stradivarius cello that once beolnged to his former teacher, Amaryllis Fleming. By a happy coincidence the wonderful studio in Champ’s Hill has recently aquired the painting of Amaryllis by Augustus John, which was hung behind the musicians and watched over the entire proceedings!
Less familiar, even to violinists, for whom it was written, is Guillaume Lekeu’s Sonata in G major. The composer lived to be only 24 years old, but in that short time wrote some of the most passionately lyrical music of the age. This is a work that deserves to be far better known.
The remaining works on this recording are both by Ysaye himself. The Sonata for unaccompanied cello is a real tour-de-force and seldom heard on the concert stage. The Reve d’Enfant is played here in an arrangement for cello and piano by John York.

"Ysaye's sonata for unaccompanied cello, Op. 28, lies at the heart of this fine album, along with his Reve d'enfant Op. 14, both wonderfully played by Raphael Wallfisch. But the opening Sonata in G by the French composer Guillaume Lekeu, dead in 1894 at the age of only 24, is a real gem worthy of rediscovery by this outstanding cellist, its predominantly pastoral qualities in stark contrast to the jaggedly animated Sonata in A of César Franck which gives both Wallfisch and his pianist, John York, a chance to show their true, gleaming mettle. A must for cellophiles."

Anthony Holden Observer 15th December 2002

“Raphael Wallfisch's and John York's playing in the Franck has an air of spontaneity and enjoyment which exudes a very natural ebb and flow, while the ample ambience allows them to make the most of the 'big' moments, such as the central climax in the finale.
The disc also scores through its imaginative programming, placing the two Franco-Belgian sonatas alongside music by the great violinist who inspired them. Ysaÿe's unaccompanie Cello Sonata is an impressive, sombre work; as in the more familiar violin sonatas, echoes of the Baroque are placed within an impressionistic context. Wallfisch's account is magnificent - full-blooded, yet very clear and precise.
The Lekeu, with its opulent, passionate piano part and predominately lyrical string writing, transcribes just as effectively for the cello as does the Franck. And its grand emotions inspire a very wholehearted response. Thoroughly recommended.”

Classical Music Guide 2010