French Violin Sonatas Thomas Albertus Irnberger & Michael Korstick

• Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924): Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13:
• 1 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13: I - Allegro molto 09:24
• 2 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13: II - Andante 06:58
• 3 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13: III - Allegro vivo 04:07
• 4 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13: IV - Allegro quasi presto 05:27
• Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108:
• 5 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108: I - Allegro non troppo 09:05
• 6 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108: II - Andante 08:11
• 7 Fauré: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 108: III - Final. Allegro non troppo 07:21
• Romance pour violon et piano op. 28:
• 8 Fauré: Romance pour violon et piano op. 28 05:59
• Andante pour violon et piano op. 75:
• 9 Fauré: Andante pour violon et piano op. 75 04:59
• Sicilienne pour violoncelle/violon et piano op. 78:
• 10 Fauré: Sicilienne pour violoncelle/violon et piano op. 78 04:02
• Berceuse pour violon et piano op. 16:
• 11 Fauré: Berceuse pour violon et piano op. 16 03:36
• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992): Thème et variations pour violon et piano:
• 12 Messiaen: Thème et variations pour violon et piano 09:50
• Guillaume Lekeu (1870 - 1894): Sonata for Piano and Violin:
• 13 Lekeu: Sonata for Piano and Violin: I - Très modéré – vif et passionné 12:10
• 14 Lekeu: Sonata for Piano and Violin: II - Très lent 10:09
• 15 Lekeu: Sonata for Piano and Violin: III - Très animé 09:24
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Sonata for Violin and Piano:
• 16 Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano: I - Allegretto 08:22
• 17 Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano: II - Blues: Moderato 05:40
• 18 Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano: III - Perpetuum mobile: Allegro 03:55
• Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Sonata for Violin and Piano:
• 19 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin and Piano: I - Allegro con fuoco 06:42
• 20 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin and Piano: II - Intermezzo: Très lent et calme 06:20
• 21 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin and Piano: III - Presto tragico 05:21
• Maurice Ravel: Deux mélodies hébraïques:
• 22 Ravel: Deux mélodies hébraïques: I. Kaddisch (pour violon et piano) 04:46
• Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré. Simplice:
• 23 Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré. Simplice 02:53
• Total Runtime 02:34:41

Info for French Violin Sonatas

This double album explores ‘paths into Impressionism’: starting with the two important sonatas for violin and piano by Gabriel Fauré, the first of which was already described as a masterpiece by Camille Saint-Saëns, and four other short pieces by Fauré, the great Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger and the German pianist Michael Korstick, who is already very familiar with the French idiom through many of his own recordings, present further works from the French and Belgian repertoire in their usual masterly and spirited interpretations: the sonata by Guillaume Lekeu, who died at an early age, which was commissioned and premièred by Eugène Ysaÿe, and Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano. The sonata by Guillaume Lekeu, who died young and was commissioned and premiered by Eugène Ysaÿe, and Maurice Ravel's sonata (with a blues as the middle movement), characterised by Ravel's view that violin and piano were fundamentally incompatible. The resulting manifold parallel developments and bitonal frictions create specific stimuli, without the music being the least bit disjointed. Ravel's ‘Kaddish’ and the ‘Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré’, dedicated to his teacher, can also be heard, as well as the sonata by Francis Poulenc, written in collaboration with Ginette Neveu and dedicated posthumously to Federico García Lorca, and the fascinating work ‘Thème et variations’ by Olivier Messiaen, which he dedicated to his first wife, a violinist, and which still contains many impressionistic elements.

Thomas Albertus Irnberger, violin
Michael Korstick, piano

Thomas Albertus Irnberger
born in Salzburg in 1985, is one of Austria’s leading violinists. The German specialist press remarked: “Like few other young artists in his field, Irnberger has carved out a place for himself amongst Europe’s violinist elite in recent years.”

At the age of 15, he made his sensational debut at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Since then, Thomas Albertus Irnberger has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in major concert halls across Europe, Israel and Asia.

In 2004, he signed an exclusive contract with the long-established Viennese label Gramola and has built up a considerable and highly acclaimed discography. In 2017, the artist released his 40th CD recording. His recordings have regularly received record awards and outstanding reviews from the international press.

Michael Korstick
born 1955 in Cologne, first gave his late, but highly acclaimed record debut when he was 43 years old. Today he reaps the fruits of his long years of work. Thus, in recent years his recordings are repeatedly set apart in the quarterly lists of the German Record Critics Prize, whereby the spectrum of the distinguished products ranges from Beethoven Sonatas and works for piano by Charles Koechlin to works for piano and orchestra by Darius Milhaud.

Korstick has studied in Cologne with Jürgen Tröster and in Hanover with Hans Leygraf and completed his studies at the Juilliard School in New York. Korstick has received prizes and distinctions among others at the Beethoven Competition Vienna, "Reine Sofia" Competition Madrid, Tschaikowsky Competition Moscow and International Music Competition Montréal. His worldwide concert career has led him from Marocco to Mexico and from Chile to Korea. His recording of Beethoven Sonatas is currently being included in the line-up of important complete recordings by Alfred Brendel, Friedrich Gulda and Artur Schnabel.

Booklet for French Violin Sonatas