Trios pour piano

Description

Born in 1817, the German Eduard Franck (not to be confused with the Franco-Belgian César) never took part in the rivalry between “ancients” and “moderns” that underlies the entire musical history of the Germanic countries in the 19th century. Little concerned with sterile polemics, this pupil of Mendelssohn preferred to forge his own path in order to create an original language that stems from that of his teacher. His varied output has, over the past few years, been the subject of a deserved revival led mainly by the Audite label, which has already released several volumes of chamber music (quartets, quintets, sextets, the first volume of piano trios), as well as orchestral works. The three works presented on this disc complete the integral set of Franck’s five piano trios. The first, written at the age of 17, is a surge of youthful, highly Mendelssohnian ardor. Despite the lion’s share given to the piano (the composer’s instrument), one also notes the importance of the violin in the presentation of these insinuating, highly lyrical themes that are Franck’s hallmark, a role that becomes even more pronounced in the two following trios, separated by thirty years (1856 and 1886 respectively). The author’s attachment to the classical ideal of his youth remains intact in these two works, magnified by the luminous performance of the Schweizer Klaviertrio. (Jean-Michel Babin-Goasdoué)