Symphonic Variations, for piano & orchestra (also arr. for 2 pianos), FWV 46
Prélude, choral, et fugue, for piano, FWV 21
Piano Quintet in F minor, FWV 7
Sonata for violin & piano in A major, FWV 8
This collection of works by Cesar Franck succeeds in presenting listeners with a good selection of the composer's more popular works, including the D minor Symphony and Franck's two most popular chamber works: the F minor Piano Quintet and the Violin Sonata. While all of the performances on the album are certainly competent and acceptable, none of them truly inspire neophyte listeners to truly fall in love with Franck's music the way his own students did. The Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse's performance of the D minor ...
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This collection of works by Cesar Franck succeeds in presenting listeners with a good selection of the composer's more popular works, including the D minor Symphony and Franck's two most popular chamber works: the F minor Piano Quintet and the Violin Sonata. While all of the performances on the album are certainly competent and acceptable, none of them truly inspire neophyte listeners to truly fall in love with Franck's music the way his own students did. The Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse's performance of the D minor Symphony is on the bland side, owning both to the dull recorded sound and occasional lack of rhythmic clarity. In the first movement, the violins are jarringly out of tune when each of the familiar descending dotted scale occurs. Intonation difficulties appear again in the album during the F minor Piano Quintet. Franck wrote the strings in unison often, which, unfortunately, for the Quatuor Muir, only highlights its difficulty in playing in tune. EMI's recorded sound again is...
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