Ernest Chausson - Concert; Piano Quartet (Philippe Graffin; Pascal Devoyon)

Information

Composer: Ernest Chausson

• Concert in D major, for violin, piano & string quartet, Op. 21
• Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 30

Philippe Graffin, violin

Pascal Devoyon, piano

Chilingirian Quartet

    Levon Chilingirian, violin

    Charles Sewart, violin

    Asdis Valdimarsdottir, viola

    Philip de Groote, cello

Toby Hoffman, viola

Gary Hoffman, cello

Date: 1997

Label: Hyperion

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Review

It is easy to understand why Chausson’s Concert is not as regular a feature of concert programmes as, say, Franck’s Violin Sonata. After all, a work for piano, violin and string quartet must surely have an instrumental imbalance. How can Chausson occupy all three violin parts for nearly forty minutes? In short, he does not. Nor does he try. Much of the Concert is essentially a sonata for violin and piano with an accompanying, though essential, string quartet. Chausson’s refusal to involve the quartet at every juncture merely to justify the players’ fees results in a signally well-balanced late Romantic work. When the quartet does feature on an equal footing, the effect is all the more telling.

The fingerprints of Franck can be detected readily throughout the Concert, but in this and the Piano Quartet, Chausson’s individuality overcomes his teacher’s influence. Indeed, there are premonitions of Debussy, Ravel and even Shostakovich. Tangibly the product of live performances, these accounts traverse the gamut of emotions, bristling with energy, lyricism and conviction, and ensuring that this disc will never gather much dust.

— Christopher Dingle

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Ernest Chausson (20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a prominent late-19th-century French composer. After completing a law degree, he studied composition at the Paris Conservatory under Jules Massenet and César Franck. Influenced by the operas of Richard Wagner, Chausson developed a richly chromatic yet characteristically French musical style. He also supported younger composers such as Claude Debussy while serving the Société Nationale de Musique. His notable works include Poème, Symphony in B-flat Major, and the opera Le Roi Arthus, which incorporated Wagnerian leitmotifs and his own libretto.

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Philippe Graffin (born 1964 in Romilly-sur-Seine, France) is a French violinist. Graffin was a student of the late Joseph Gingold and Philippe Hirschhorn and has established a particular reputation for his interpretations of his native repertoire as well for his interest in rare and contemporary works. He has made numerous landmark recordings for labels such as Hyperion, Avie, ASV and Onyx. Graffin plays a Domenico Busano violin, made in Venice, 1730. He is currently professor at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and guest professor at the Brussels Conservatoire Royal.

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Pascal Devoyon (born 6 April 1953) is a French classical pianist and educator. He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1971 and earned a Music License from the École Normale de Musique in 1972. Devoyon has performed at leading venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebouw, and collaborated with renowned orchestras and conductors such as Charles Dutoit and Semyon Bychkov. An active chamber musician, he frequently performs with Steven Isserlis and violinist Dong-Suk Kang. Since 1991, he has taught at major European conservatories in Paris, Berlin and Geneva.

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