Benjamin Godard - Violin Sonatas (Nicolas Dautricourt; Dana Ciocarlie)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Godard

CD1:

• Violin Sonata No. 3 in G minor, Op. 9
• Violin Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 1

CD2:

• Violin Sonata No. 4 in A-flat major, Op. 12
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor, Op. 2

Nicolas Dautricourt, violin

Dana Ciocarlie, piano

Date: 2016

Label: Aparté | Palazzetto Bru Zane

https://bru-zane.com/en/pubblicazione/sonate-per-pianoforte-e-violino/

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

Benjamin Godard trained as a violinist before turning to composition. Though he soon expressed a marked preference as a performer for the viola, many of his early works were written for his original instrument, including four sonatas, composed between 1866 and 1872. As a set they are uneven, and modern taste, I suspect, may well overturn the judgement of his contemporaries, who preferred the Fourth to the other three.

Hearing them together you inevitably notice stylistic points in common: an operatic approach to slow movements, which sound like bel canto arias without words; a debt to Mendelssohn in scherzos or intermezzos; and an emphasis on expressive passagework rather than double- or triple-stopping at moments of climax or crisis. Yet the differences are also considerable. The first pair were completed contemporaneously in 1867, and the Second, taut yet passionate, with not a note wasted, reveals considerable advances over its companion, where the thematic material can be unremarkable and Godard’s fondness for extended passages in octaves becomes a mannerism. The Third (1869), written for the piano-playing Princesse de Chimay and her violinist husband, has been dismissed as salon music, but the consistently striking quality of its thematic material and the exquisite writing for both instuments stand comparison with Fauré: many, I suspect, will nowadays prefer it to the Fourth, a grand virtuoso showstopper, which at times sounds curiously like a concerto performed with piano reduction.

The performances are consistently strong. Nicolas Dautricourt permits himself to be flamboyant in the Fourth but is nicely restrained elsewere, his phrasing immaculately shaded: a touch of metal in his tone prevents the music from turning towards sentimentality, an all too frequent danger with Godard in performance. Dana Ciocarlie is superb throughout, poised yet intense, and wonderfully limpid in the Third Sonata, its arpeggiated firgurations done with breathtaking delicacy. The recording itself is as warm and clear as one could wish.

-- Tim Ashley, Gramophone

-----------------------------------------------------------

Benjamin Godard (18 August 1849 – 10 January 1895) was a French violinist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Henri Vieuxtemps (violin) and Napoléon Henri Reber (harmony). Godard's long list of works includes eight operas, five symphonies, two piano concertos, three string quartets, four sonatas for violin and piano, a sonata for cello and piano, two piano trios, and various other orchestral works. Godard was opposed to the music of Richard Wagner and also highly critical of Wagner's antisemitism. His style was more in tune with those of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Godard

***

Nicolas Dautricourt (born 1977) is a French violinist. Awarded in numerous international violin contests, such as Wieniawski, Lipizer and Belgrad, he has studied with Philip Hirschhorn, Miriam Fried and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, and teaches since 2021 at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Versailles. Artistic Director of the Fêtes Musicales de Corbigny, he plays an instrument by Antonio Stradivarius, the "Château Pape Clément". Dautricourt appears regularly at major international venues, such as the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Moscow Tchaïkovsky Hall, and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Dautricourt

https://www.nicolasdautricourt.com/

***

Dana Ciocarlie (born 26 November 1968) is a French pianist and teacher of Romanian origin. She studied at the Bucharest Conservatory, the École normale de musique de Paris, and the Conservatoire de Paris. Ciocarlie participated in various competitions, and won 2nd place the Robert Schumann International Competition for Pianists and Singers in Zwickau. She has played with partners such as violinists Nicolas Dautricourt and Laurent Korcia, pianists Christian Zacharias and Anne Queffélec, violist Gérard Caussé, and the Talich Quartet. She also has premiered numerous contemporary works dedicated to her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Ciocarlie

http://www.danaciocarlie.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!