Long a staple of orchestral concerts with his Symphonic Variations and D minor symphony, the Belgian-French composer has fallen way off the agenda. Bertrand Chamayou attempts to reverse that trend with a disc of two piano works with orchestra (Scottish National, conductor Stéphane Denève) and two piano solos, none of them life-changing but performed with enough grit and passion to remind us that Franck is worth an occasional hearing. The stunner comes in the finale – a prelude, fugue and variation for piano and harmonium (Olivier Latry) that so aptly and exquisitely conveys the Paris of Napoleon III it must surely be used before long as a television or movie soundtrack.
It is so far removed from the austerity of most of Franck’s work that it will make you look again at this neglected inventor.
By Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale
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