Building a Franck collection
A few listening recommendations
Perhaps the best place to begin a Franck collection is with the composer’s own instrument. Though leading players including Gillian Weir, Michael Murray and Pierre Pincemaille have recorded the complete organ works, most have frustratingly disappeared from the catalogue. Thankfully, Marie-claire Alain’s Franck: Great Organ Works, recorded on the organ of Saint-étienne in Caen in the 1990s, has recently been re-issued, offering more than two hours of the composer’s mastery at the console (Warner 5419729927).
For those who prefer just one keyboard, Stephen Hough’s 1997 Franck: Piano Music (Hyperion CDA66918) makes a superb introduction, and includes Hough’s own arrangement of the Third Choral for organ. Do however, also try Benjamin Grosvenor’s ringing rendition of the Prélude, Choral and Fugue, as featured on his Homages album (Decca 483 0255), recorded in 2016.
If you are on the hunt for a recording of Franck’s best known work, the Violin Sonata in A major, you will not be stuck for choice.
Among the many recordings available, violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy’s still stands out, more than half-a-century after it was made (Decca 475 8246). And to hear the work in its cello transcription, go for the 2012 recording by cellist Anne Gastinel and pianist Claire Désert (Naïve V5259).
For further chamber music explorations, meanwhile, there’s the String Quartet, as recorded to acclaim by the Dante Quartet in 2007 (Hyperion CDA67664), and the Piano Quintet, for which Marc-andré Hamelin joined the Takács Quartet in the studio in 2016 (Hyperion CDA68061).
Hopefully, this issue’s cover CD has whetted your appetite for Franck’s orchestral works. As we well as our recommendation on p7, try also his Les Djinns and Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, as played by Bertrand Chamayou with the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Stéphane Denève (Naïve V5208). Nor should we forget Franck’s contribution to the world of vocal music. Franck: Songs by mezzo Gabriella Létay Kiss and pianist Adrienne Hauser is an excellent way to investigate this area. (Hungaroton HCD32425).