COMPOSERS: Franck
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Prélude, fugue et variation, Op. 18 (transcr. Bauer); Prélude, choral et fugue; Prélude, aria et final; Danse lente; Chorale No. 3 (transcr. Crossley)
PERFORMER: Paul Crossley (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: SK 58914 DDD
Here’s enlightenment: Crossley catches the exultation and the serene anxiety of music that rarely get their due. Behind the formal titles, Franck unfolds high dramas; his fugues are pretexts for struggle, his tie-ups of themes like revelations. The long melody of his early organ Prelude takes well to the piano’s expressive powers. If this disc helps spread knowledge of a peak in French music, so much the better, and good performances of the big piano works don’t often stay around: snap it up. Robert Maycock
Franck: Prélude, fugue et variation, Op. 18 (transcr. Bauer); Prélude, choral et fugue; Prélude, aria et final; Danse lente; Chorale No. 3 (transcr. Crossley)
Here’s enlightenment: Crossley catches the exultation and the serene anxiety of music that rarely get their due. Behind the formal titles, Franck unfolds high dramas; his fugues are pretexts for struggle, his tie-ups of themes like revelations. The long melody of his early organ Prelude takes well to the piano’s expressive powers. If this disc helps spread knowledge of a peak in French music, so much the better, and good performances of the big piano works don’t often stay around: snap it up. Robert Maycock
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm