Bruno Monteiro & Joao Paulo Santos: Music For Violin & Piano: The Franco-Belgian Album
Etcetera

Having earlier given their attention to recordings featuring works by Elgar, Debussy, Barbosa, Moody, Ravel, Korngold, Chausson, Ysaÿe, Branco, and Villa-Lobos, violinist Bruno Monteiro and pianist João Paulo Santos now turn to material by French and Belgian composers from the Romantic period. Representing Belgium we have Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-81) and César Franck (1822-90), from France Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). While the latter's Caprice d'après l'Etude en forme de Valse and Fauré's Berceuse are often in the repertoire of concert violinists, Saint-Saëns' Élégie, Franck's Andante quietoso and Mélancolie, and Vieuxtemps' Grande Sonata for Violin and Piano are less frequently heard. Weighing in at forty-five minutes, Vieuxtemps' four-movement work towers over the others and perhaps presents the strongest argument on behalf of the release, as obscure as the sonata is. That it is so little-known is curious, given how terrific a showcase it is for both performers.

Vieuxtemps, who, among other things, was a professor at the Brussels Conservatory (Eugéne Ysaÿe one of his pupils), wrote Grande Sonata (1843) when he was only twenty-two years old. Not unusual for a young composer, the work reflects the influence of another composer, in this case Beethoven, but it's something more than mere imitation or pastiche. After opening with an arresting flourish, the “Allegro Assai” plunges quickly into its melodically luxuriant soundworld with a series of supplicating themes delivered passionately by the duo. An initial motive is eventually reprised before the movement ends with a coda as dramatic as its opening. At more than sixteen minutes and rich in contrast, the first movement is a veritable adventure in sound. Half its length, the “Scherzo” charms with a playful, teeter-totter-like theme; the slightly longer “Largo ma non tropo” is a dignified creature that swells from a stately intro into a fervent expression that in moments verges on ecstatic. Playfulness returns for the harmonious “Rondo” as the instruments ride the music's joyful wave until a D Major chord ushers the sonata to a grand conclusion.

The five pieces that follow aren't as epic as Grande Sonata but still have much to recommend them. Two pieces by Franck are up first, Andantino quietoso (also 1843), written for him and his violin-playing brother Joseph to perform, and Mélancolie, published a year after the composer's death, based on one of his solfège exercises. Andantino quietoso appeals for its plaintive tone and heartfelt solemnity, the hushed Mélancolie even more affecting. Brightening the mood, Fauré's Berceuse, composed between 1878 and 1879, beguiles with sweetly singing melodies and lilting rhythms. Completed in 1915, Saint-Saëns' poetic Élégie eschews the anticipated melancholy promised by the title for a less predictable lyricism, after which the endearing Caprice d'après l'Etude en forme de Valse, co-credited to Saint-Saëns and Ysaÿe (because the latter turned a piano etude by the former into a duo arrangement for violin and piano), concludes the album on a high-spirited note.

Interestingly, there are moments during the recording where the vocal-like tone of Monteiro's violin could be mistaken for a viola's. The performances are also intensely personal ones where the human touch is always felt (there's nothing robotic about his runs, for example), and the intimacy of their playing creates the impression of the two playing in one's living room as opposed to in a concert hall. Recorded over two days in July 2024, The Franco-Belgian Album makes for a worthy addition to the discography the Portuguese violinist and his long-standing recital partner have been building for many years now.

December 2024