Augustin Dumay, Jean-Philippe Collard - Franck, Magnard: Sonates pour violon et piano (1989)

The first CD here is generously filled and contains a valuable novelty in the Magnard Violin Sonata, which may well tempt collectors already possessing a good version of the Franck. In the first movement of the latter, where the marking is Allegretto ben moderato, Augustin Dumay and Jean-Philippe Collard create a feeling of serenity at the start not only tonally but also by a tempo of about dotted crotchet = 48, but fine though the playing is, I think the ben moderato has been interpreted too freely here. Then, in the second melodic idea Collard leaps ahead with a quite new tempo of 72 beats to the minute despite the marking a tempo at this point, and after that the new pace applies to the first theme as well. Played like this the first movement becomes a kind of rhapsody rather than the sonata structure that it is, agreeable though that may be. Matters are somewhat similar in the busy Allegro that follows, where the poco piu lento beginning at 2'06'' is much slower than the rest, and the same thing happens later in the movement. Such exaggerated point-making is I think, misjudged in itself while making this movement distinctly episodic; and regrettably Dumay has a tendency to unsteady delivery even within a phrase for example at the return to Tempo I that follows the section just mentioned and in the animato poco a poco start to the coda. Perhaps predictably, it is the lyrical third movement that suits the players best and is most convincingly expressive. In the finale a sensible tempo is chosen, but Dumay and Collard pull it around a good deal by rubato and so weaken the music.
But as I wrote at the start, it is maybe the Magnard Sonata that will be the chief attraction here. According to the booklet note, this is an ''imposing masterpiece'', and certainly its length of some 43 minutes gives it a kind of stature, rather as in the case of the Piano Sonata of Dukas. Like much else of this interesting composer's music, it has a strong personal quality and seems to come from the heart; and it is well written, too, for the instruments. But it is far less straightforward melodically and structurally than the Franck, and I suspect it will take other listeners beside myself several hearings to find the form of the discursive first movement convincing, if we do so even then: there is a kind of stream-of-consciousness effect here that may leave an intelligent ear puzzled and unsatisfied. Nevertheless, Dumay and Collard play it for all it is worth, and the second movement (Calme) has melodic and harmonic charm even if at 13 1/2 minutes (longer than the first) one may feel that there can be too much even of a good thing. The much briefer scherzo has an effective wryness and is more purposeful as well, but I fear that prolixity gets a hold of the composer once again in the 14 minutes of the finale. A work to investigate, but not a masterpiece as I understand that word. The recording, made in the Salle Wagram in Paris, is clean with sufficient atmosphere.
The other performance of the Franck Sonata is also from EMI. This time the recording was made in New York; it is adequate but a little heavy in climaxes and though the violin tone is well caught that of the piano is less cleanly focused. The playing from Salerno-Sonnenberg and Licad has a directness that often suits the music but here, too, I find some tonal and rhythmical bulges that are less in place, while the Allegro has a touch of excitability (as opposed to real excitement) that is perhaps inappropriate to this composer. But the slow movement is a lovely, tender dialogue and the finale captivates with its lilt, even if its breadth is not so well conveyed. The youthful ardour here is also a feature of the Brahms sonata movement Scherzo (from the composite sonata of Joachim that was written also by Schumann and Dietrich) and the A major Sonata, which is fluently played but needs the firmer line and greater maturity and gravitas that are features both of the Oistrakh/ Bauer performance (Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi) and of the Suk/Katchen (Decca) Though in both these cases the 1960s recording is inferior to the best modern sound, it is still good in the present remasterings.
As for the Franck Sonata, for my taste the Chung/Lupu performance (Decca, at mid price) is best of all for its shape and lyrical glow, while Mintz and Bronfman (DG) are also sweetly satisfying; so are Bell and Thibaudet (also Decca), but they are not superior to the two performances just mentioned.