Kyung-Wha Chung

Kevin Kenner, Kyung Wha Chung – Beau Soir – Works for Violin & Piano by Fauré, Franck & Debussy (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:55 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

I present to you the violinist of the Chung family (actually, perhaps “dynasty” would be more precise). Born in 1948, Kyung-wha Chung’s career started with a bang at the age of just ten. His youth proved no obstacle to starting his studies at the Juilliard school, but child-prodigy status carries with it a great risk: that of remaining a child. Chung dodged this particular error, and his adult career has blossomed on the world stage. Here he takes up the Franco-Belgian repertoire of Fauré and Franck: the former’s First Sonata and the latter’s sole Sonata are plainly the pillars of the album. Franck gave his to the world in 1886, but in fact Fauré’s came first by a long way: it dates from 1876! And so the first of Fauré and the mature Franck confront each other on this record: both sharing the radiant tones of A major (on violin, the keys are much more clearly differentiated than they are on, say piano: some are much more striking, for technical reasons whose explanation can get a bit… technical); both are structured in four movements, but whereas one speaks of youth and fervour – in rather fashionable accents, too, perhaps – Franck’s music shows a mellowing with age, broad, cyclical construction, and a precise way of giving each instrument an equal share weight in the discourse. Chung and pianist Kevin Kenner round off the programme with a few treats from the two composers, as well as a little Debussy and Elgar’s Salut d’amour, which he wrote for his fiancée as an engagement present.

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