MDG Recital  903 1984-6

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Chamber

Cesar Franck: Mélancolie E minor, Andantino quiestoso in E flat major, Op.6, Sonata in A major
Maurice Ravel: Sonata No. 2 in G major, Tzigane

Kirill Troussov (violin)
Alexandra Troussova (piano)


Stirringly emotional
The brother and sister Kirill Troussov and Alexandra Troussova have performed music together ever since their childhood days – the best preparation for César Franck’s magnificent Violin Sonata, the focal work on their new Emotions album. Their close cooperation allows them agogic freedoms adding an absolutely new dimension to this masterpiece of romantic chamber music. They form a dream team, and so do their instruments: the famous “Brodsky” Stradivarius on which Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was premiered and the legendary Steinway “Manfred Bürki” concert grand piano from 1901.

Rarity’s Reward
And this makes for enthralling moments! Franck’s “Mélancolie” opens the program and immediately makes us sit up and listen with its unheard-of wealth of color. This musical gem, like the “Andantino quietoso” following it, is hardly ever included in concert programs – which is hard to believe once we have heard the performance by the Troussov siblings. An absolutely rewarding discovery!

Clarity’s Class
The emotional feast continues in Franck’s Violin Sonata with its incredible dynamic intensification already in the first movement and the gripping Allegro of the second movement. This work developing immense dramatic intensity is nonetheless always clearly conveyed in the interpretation by the Troussovs. Here they demonstrate their top class, which likewise enables them to enhance the wonderfully light and airy first
movement from Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata.

Three Dimensions
Ravel’s “Blues” then creates an improvisational effect very closely reflecting its stylistic model from the South – complete with a banjo imitation. To top things off, the duo’s transformation of the popular “Tzigane” from light virtuoso fare into a splendid piece of chamber music is unique. And thanks to the finest SACD reproduction you can enthrallingly and vividly experience it all in 3D!