The centrepiece of this French-themed recital by Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner is the splendid violin sonata by César Franck. It is a work long associated with Chung, described by the Financial Times as “one of the greatest violinists of the last half-century”. Newer to Chung’s repertoire is Fauré’s Sonata No 1. As she told Strings magazine, each of the works constitutes “a whole portrait of life itself,” and she drew a comparison with Monet’s paintings: “The reflection of light has endless possibility. The same thing applies to the texture and the sound when you’re playing. There are millions of sounds.”
FAURE
Violin Sonata No. 1 in a Major, Op. 13: I. Allegro Molto
Violin Sonata No. 1 in a Major, Op. 13: II. Andante
Violin Sonata No. 1 in a Major, Op. 13: III. Allegro Vivo
Violin Sonata No. 1 in a Major, Op. 13: IV. Allegro Quasi Presto
FRANCK
Violin Sonata in a Major, FWV 8: I. Allegro Ben Moderato
Violin Sonata in a Major, FWV 8: II. Allegro
Violin Sonata in a Major, FWV 8: III. Recitativo Fantasia (Ben Moderato)
Violin Sonata in a Major, FWV 8: IV. Allegro Poco Mosso
DEBUSSY
Preludes, Book 1, L. 117: No. 8 la Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin
FAURE
Berceuse, Op. 16
FRANCK
Mass in a Major, Op. 12, FWV 61: V. Panis Angelicus
DEBUSSY
Beau Soir, L. 6