Raphael Wallfisch - John York

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) was already more than seventy when he wrote his two cello sonatas. Although both works were significant contributions to the repertoire, they are rarely to be heard in the concert hall. Raphael Wallfisch takes the first of these sonatas as an introduction to the Walloon chamber music he so recently recorded on his CD 'The Ysaÿe Connection'. From the work of the passionate Guillaume Lekeu (1870-1894), who met an early death, he chose the Sonata in G. It is an emotional and intense interpretation of the more intellectual and structural method Lekeu learnt from his teacher at the Paris Conservatory, César Franck (1822-1890). And Franck's Sonata in A is the pivotal point in this recital. It was one of the few works for which this great master received international recognition in the last few years of his life. Between these two works you will hear the Sonata for solo cello by that other Belgian resident of Paris, Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931). This piece was published in 1924, shortly after the death of his wife Louise, which probably explains the dark and extremely concentrated writing.