Daniele Orlando & Linda Di Carlo - Farrenc: Music for Violin & Piano (2021) [Official Digital Download]

Born in 1804, Louise Farrenc became a professional-standard pianist while still a teenager, and later music teacher to the household of the Duke d’Orléans and from 1842 professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Her substantial legacy of composition was largely forgotten after her death in 1875 and is only now being revived. She wrote mainly in the field of orchestral and chamber music: ‘I would defy anyone,’ says the pianist Linda Di Carlo in a personal introduction to this new recording of Farrenc’s music for violin and piano, ‘to cast aspersions on the chamber music in particular on the grounds of her gender.’

No less than Théophile Gautier wrote admiringly of the First Sonata from 1848: ‘an excellent addition to her catalogue of works, and written, like most of them, in an austere classical style reminiscent of the great masters.’ It was Joseph Joachim, no less, who gave the Second Sonata’s premiere in March 1850 at the Salle Érard in Paris. The sonata opens with a distinct echo of Beethoven’s ‘Spring’ Sonata, and the opera buffa spirit of Mozart hovers over the finale, but the elfin dance of the Scherzo is entirely Farrenc’s own, characteristic inspiration. The Variations Concertantes on a popular Swiss melody has more of the perfume of the salon: a work of light and easy charm, written to display the prowess of any soloist.

On this recording, the violinist taking up the challenge of Farrenc’s subtly challenging music is Daniele Orlando, concertmaster of I Solisti Aquilani with a distinguished discography to his name, including a much-acclaimed recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. This 2019 recording is the only budget-priced album available of Farrenc’s music for violin and piano: an ideal introduction to a significant figure in 19th-century French music belatedly receiving her due.

Tracklist:
01. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: I. Introduzione. Andante Maestoso
02. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: II. Tema. Andante
03. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: III. Variation I. Più Mosso
04. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: IV. Variation II
05. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: V. Variation II Bis. Espressivo
06. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: Vi. Variation III. Brillante
07. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: VII. Variation IV. Andante Sostenuto
08. Farrenc: Variations Concertantes Sur Une Mélodie Suisse, Op. 20: VIII. Finale. Vivace
09. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 37: I Largo-Allegro
10. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 37: II Poco Adagio
11. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 37: III Finale. Allegro Vivace
12. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 39: I Allegro Grazioso
13. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 39: II Scherzo. Allegro
14. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 39: III Adagio
15. Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 39: IV Finale. Allegro


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