Cesar Franck Edition

I have loved Cesar Franck's music for years. It has been frustrating over the years to acquire separate recordings of his works, which is why I am so happy that Brilliant Classics has created this "edition." Here we have the major works: the Symphony in D minor, Le Chasseur Maudit, the Violin Sonata, the String Quartet, the Piano Quintet, the works for organ, and the major religious works all in one box. Franck, like Bruckner, is considered a "late bloomer" composer. Born in 1822 in Belgium, he spent his first twenty years or so as a concert pianist under the watchful eye of a tyrannical father. In 1858, he was able to liberate himself from his father and focus on his preferred instrument, the organ. In 1873, he became a French citizen and moved to Paris where he lived until his death in 1890. It is impossible to go through every single performance in this 23-CD set, but I am very impressed with the performers. I am also happy that the cello transcription of the Violin Sonata was included. A lucky find indeed!Franck is an underappreciated composer. He taught at the Paris Conservatorie during the last few decades of his life, and caused controversy with the faculty and students. His Symphony in D minor received a dreadful performance and was controversial, as was the Piano Quintet. Saint-Saens is said to have stormed off at the end of the piece because the piano part was so hard to play. Indeed, Franck's only success came in April, 1890 when his String Quartet was premiered to critical acclaim. Like Bruckner, he had to wait a long time to be understood, and while I do not think he is understood even now, this edition of his works will hopefully be a good introduction to a new generation of listeners, and, for Franck fans, a welcome release.I recommend this set warmly. Thank you, Brilliant Classics.

Speaking only of the keyboard works, I was disappointed at the amount of works missing here. We're not talking about obscure fragment pieces, but works like Op. 3 and Op. 5, both recorded by Ashley Wass for Naxos, are glaringly absent. And that's sad, because as far as I know he's the only one who has recorded those. I can see overlooking some of the juvenile works, especially out of respect for Franck's disownment of those works, but the collection includes Op. 014 and Op. 019 -- so where are the others? Ingmar Lazar recorded Op. 010 for a different label, but you're telling Brilliant Classics can't do the same for their collection? Brilliant Classics can get Joris Verdin's recordings of Franck's harmonium works, but can't get that same artist's recording of the "Pièces Posthumes" for organ? (To be fair, I can buy it on Amazon Music -- for an additional 18 bucks!) To make matters worse, they literally have two piano versions of Op. 18 on two different discs. Why? Seems misleading. Just for once I'd like to buy a collection that says "complete" and have it actually be complete.Other than that, the versions presented here are fantastic, and highly recommended. So, five stars for the (keyboard) performances, three stars for the presentation. If you don't mind the missing pieces, then it's worth it.

C Franck was a composer who fought against colleagues which are distrusted about your Belgian origin. They were afraid for possible "germanic" influences. In spite of the fact his principal enemy was Camille Saint Saens, Franck built a reputation with his compositions. Certainly his orchestral and chamber works made him to achieve recognition and popularity, specially his String Quartet. I will be expectinng the next year 2022, when is going to take place the 200th birth anniversary, other labels going to launch new compilations.

It's about time a comprehensive collection of this great composer and performers works has been put together. So many of us know Franck's organ works, but rarely hear his orchestral works. It's especially nice to hear the works for harmonium, performed on a harmonium.

Listening.

This is a present. Will anticipate listening to it.