Franck, Grieg, Dvorak: Sonatas for violin & piano Renaud Capuçon & Khatia Buniatishvili

• 1 I. Allegretto ben moderato 06:30
• 2 II. Allegro 08:19
• 3 III. Recitativo-Fantasia. Ben moderato - Molto lento - a tempo moderato 07:26
• 4 IV. Allegretto poco mosso 06:04
• 5 I. Allegro molto ed appassionato 09:09
• 6 II. Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza 06:03
• 7 III. Allegro animato 07:53
• 8 I. Allegro moderato 03:18
• 9 II. Allegro maestoso 02:26
• 10 III. Allegro appassionato 02:56
• 11 IV. Larghetto 06:15
• Total Runtime 01:06:19

Info for Franck, Grieg, Dvorak: Sonatas for violin & piano

It was living legend Martha Argerich, Renaud Capuçon’s frequent duo partner and Khatia Buniatishvili’s mentor, who played musical matchmaker and brought these two brilliant performers together. Their concerts at Lugano Festival in 2012 were such a resounding success that the friendship stuck. Capuçon has been praised for his “intensely lyrical” tone and “gloriously rich sound” (BBC Music Magazine).

His poised, expressive playing provides the ideal counterbalance to the impassioned pianism of 27-year-old Khatia Buniatishvili, the “fiery young star” (The Independent) hailed by Argerich as “a young pianist of extraordinary talent. I was impressed by her exceptional pianistic gift, natural musicality, imagination and her brilliant virtuosity.” Together, the pair has devised a delectable program of Romantic sonatas for violin and piano – all, extraordinarily, composed within a year in 1886-87. César Franck’s Sonata in A major is one of the finest in the genre, beloved for its soaring melodies and sensuous, light-filled final movement. “Khatia and I met over Franck’s sonata,” Capuçon recalls. “This is the sonata that sealed our musical partnership, the sheer joy of playing together.”

Renaud Capuçon, violin
Khatia Buniatishvili, piano

Recorded from 28–30 April 2014 at the Auditorium Campra, Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, Aix-en-Provence
Engineered by Jin Choi
Produced and edited by Michael Fine
Executive producer: Alain Lanceron

Renaud Capuçon
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Gérard Poulet and Veda Reynolds. He was awarded first prize for chamber music in 1992 and first prize for violin with a special distinction from the jury in 1993. In 1995 he won the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. Then he studied with Thomas Brandis in Berlin, and later with Isaac Stern. Invited by Claudio Abbado in 1997, he continued his musical experiences as konzertmeister of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester during three summers with Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Moest and of course Claudio Abbado. In 2000 he was nominated “Rising Star” and “New talent of the Year” (French Victoires de la Musique), in 2005 “Soliste instrumental de l’année”, also by the French Victoires de la Musique, and in 2006 “Prix Georges Enesco” (Sacem).

He is playing with: Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Bayerische Rundfunk, DSO Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Hessischer Rundfunk, NDR Hamburg and WDR Köln orchestras, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Phiharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Lyon, Monte-Carlo, and Toulouse Orchestras, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Moskow Radio Tchaikovsky Orchestra, Danish Royal Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, London Symphony, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, City of Birmingham Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Firenze Maggio Musicale Orchestra, Milano Scala Philharmonic, Rome Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lausanne and Zurich Chamber Orchestras, under Marc Albrecht, Christian Arming, Lionel Bringuier, Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Thomas Dausgaard, Christoph von Dohnanyi Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Ivan Fischer, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Gunther Herbig, Kristjan, Paavo and Neeme Järvi, Philippe Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine, Kurt Masur, Ludovic Morlot, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, David Robertson, Dennis Russel-Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin, Tugan Sokhiev, Robert Ticciati… In 2011 he toured USA with the China Philharmonic and Long Yu, played in China with the Guangzhou and Shanghai Symphonies and Claus Peter Flor and gave integrals of Beethoven Sonatas with F. Braley in Europe, Singapore and Hong-Kong.

Renaud Capuçon plays chamber music with Martha Argerich, Hélène Grimaud, Nicholas Angelich, Frank Braley, Yefim Bronfman, Myung-Whun Chung, Yuri Bashmet, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Mischa Maisky, Truls Mork, Maria Joao Pires, Mikhail Pletnev, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Maxim Vengerov. He is invited by prestigious festivals: London Mostly Mozart, Edinburgh, Berlin, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Lucerne, Montreux, Lockenhaus, Verbier, Gstaad, Salzburg, Schwarzenberg, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Canarias, San Sebastian, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, Menton, Saint-Denis, Strasbourg, Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood…

Discography for EMI Classics: Mendelssohn and Haydn trios and the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with Martha Argerich, Schubert recital, Berlioz/Saint-Saëns/Milhaud/Ravel with Daniel Harding and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Ravel chamber music with Gautier Capuçon and Frank Braley, duos with his brother; Dutilleux Concerto with the Radio France Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung (« Grand Prix Académie Charles Cros », « Choc de la Musique », « Diapason d’Or », « Fonoforum/Sterne des Monates »), Saint-Saëns chamber music, Brahms Trios with Gautier Capuçon and Nicholas Angelich (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Schubert Trout, Mendelssohn/Schumann concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, Brahms Sonatas with Nicholas Angelich (Gramophone/Editor’s Choice-Scherzo/Excepcional-Diapason d’Or-Choc/Monde de la Musique), Brahms Double Concerto with Gautier Capuçon and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gramophone/Editor’s Choice) and Brahms Quartets with Gautier, Gérard Caussé and Nicholas Angelich, Mozart Concertos and Sinfonia Concertante with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Louis Langrée and Antoine Tamestit, Beethoven/Korngold concertos with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Beethoven Sonatas for violin/piano with Frank Braley, Fauré chamber music with N. Angelich, G. Capuçon, M. Dalberto, G. Caussé and Ebène Quartet.

Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” (1737) that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the Banca Svizzera Italiana (BSI). In June 2011 he is appointed “Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite” by the French Government.

Booklet for Franck, Grieg, Dvorak: Sonatas for violin & piano