Philippe Graffin, Pascal Devoyon - Saint-Saëns: Music for Violin (1999)

The neglect of the vast majority of Saint-Saëns' chamber and orchestral output is a loss to music lovers everywhere. Even worse is the condescending attitude of musical academia toward a composer who not only was fantastically gifted in his own right, but a true scholar and student of the classics. And if his own works sometimes reflect the result of this knowledge, then what's the harm? The composer himself once said something along these lines: "He who does not get absolute pleasure from a series of well-constructed chords, beautiful only in their arrangement, is not really fond of music." The two violin sonatas, Triptyque, and shorter works contain more than an adequate share of well-constructed chords, and much else besides. They stand with the similar works of Dvorák, Fauré, and Brahms at the pinnacle of Romantic achievement in this medium, and their comparative neglect is wholly underserved, as these winsome, musicianly performances clearly demonstrate. Philippe Graffin has already demonstrated his talents in the same composer's three violin concertos. His playing marries classical refinement to a passionate urgency of expression, especially in the turbulent D minor Sonata's Beethovenian outer movements. His partner handles the busy piano parts with equal intelligence. There's a lot more muscle and substance to this music than conventional wisdom recognizes. They deserve and will reward your attention. -- David Hurwitz