Tasmin Little plays Franck, Szymanowski, and Fauré
Tasmin Little (violin) & Piers Lane (piano)
In a performance alternately as gutsy and subtle as this, [the Szymanowski is] completely riveting. The folk-inflected central movement brings some almost Rachmaninovian writing for the piano,...
Tasmin Little plays Franck, Szymanowski, and Fauré
Tasmin Little (violin) & Piers Lane (piano)
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In a performance alternately as gutsy and subtle as this, [the Szymanowski is] completely riveting. The folk-inflected central movement brings some almost Rachmaninovian writing for the piano,...
About
The indefatigable duo of Tasmin Little and Piers Lane returns with a unique recorded programme at the centre of which stand the violin sonatas of Szymanowski and Franck.
Their joined expert musicianship reveals the intimacy and magic of these passionate, lateromantic works. The album encompasses the folk like yet technically demanding Romance, Violin Sonata, and Notturno e Tarantella by Szymanowski, here more inspired by the German and French romantic tradition than by his native Polish one, as well as Franck’s highly original Violin Sonata and Fauré’s Romance.
It follows a much-lauded set of Schubert’s complete works for violin and piano (Album of the Week in the Mail on Sunday), and also marks the eightieth anniversary of Szymanowski’s death. Tasmin Little will continue her tribute to the composer with a concerto album this autumn and with a series of concerts of his music, which will take her around the world.
Contents and tracklist
- Tasmin Little, Piers Lane
- Recorded: 25-27 April 2016
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
- Tasmin Little, Piers Lane
- Recorded: 25-27 April 2016
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
- Tasmin Little, Piers Lane
- Recorded: 25-27 April 2016
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Awards and reviews
June 2017
In a performance alternately as gutsy and subtle as this, [the Szymanowski is] completely riveting. The folk-inflected central movement brings some almost Rachmaninovian writing for the piano, which Lane projects superbly, and [the] energy overflows into the highly-strung Romance, before the more oriental world of the Notturno and the crackling virtuosity of the Tarantella – a long way from the calm of the Franck which started the CD
May 2017
Warmth, tonal bloom, agility and a feeling of oneness with the instrument that spins the illusion that for the duration [Little] is the violin. These are wholesome, red-blooded performances, direct and deeply satisfying, with no lack of imagination
30th May 2017
I greatly enjoyed this recital and hope that this team will give us more, such as, for example, the Fauré sonatas (she has already recorded the first, with Martin Roscoe), and Szymanowski’s Mythes, his finest work for this combination.
23rd April 2017
Szymanowski’s Sonata Op 9 (1904), expansive and romantic with some of the grandeur of Franck’s sonata, has energy and poetry. The second movement, with its yearning melody and mawkish pizzicato interventions, beguiles and charms. Little is one of the most open-hearted players around, with a watertight virtuosity to match. These are direct and generous performances to savour.
July 2017
A powerful, strongly performed recital from an outstanding duo.
classicalsource.com May 2017
Fauré’s Romance is rarely recorded on its own, usually getting tucked into a corner of complete cycles of the composer’s music for violin and piano. A charming piece in the usual song form, it has a lyrical main theme and a rather agitated contrasting central section. Little and Lane play it as beautifully as they can, the violinist employing a touch of portamento, and it makes a pleasant bridge to the sterner stuff of Szymanowski’s Sonata.
Classical Ear May 2017
Such dazzlingly assured, unflinchingly communicative music-making, this, vividly captured by the microphones.
