Saint-Saëns: Sonates pour violon et piano (SACD)

With his chamber music works, Saint-Saëns created a new focus when France was entirely concentrated on opera and the Opéra comique. His first violin sonata, one of the first ever composed in France, is a masterpiece of timeless beauty. The grandiose mastery of formal architecture is particularly captivating. The second sonata, composed in Egypt, differs fundamentally from its predecessor: it is more serious, classical and intimate in expression. Although it is very melodious, its creator prophesied that it could be understood only "after the eighth hearing." These two masterpieces are flanked by the Fantaisie for violin and harp, a virtuoso work in which the exchange of the piano for the harp results in a refined, even magical, sound that at times recalls Fauré and Debussy. There is also the charming "Berceuse" in an enchanting arrangement for violin and harp.