Bruno Monteiro’s Franco-Belgian Discoveries

Cover of album being discussed (courtesy of ET'ETERA)

Readers may recall that, this past spring, violinist Bruno Monteiro released his 20th Century and Forward album of his duo performances with pianist João Paulo Santos. The “forward” composer was Ivan Moody, who had died this past January. This Friday will see the release of this duo’s second album of the year. The Franco-Belgian Album turns back the close to the late nineteenth century, presenting compositions by Henri Vieuxtemps, César Franck, Gabriel Fauré, and Camille Saint-Saëns. In then concludes with an arrangement composed by Eugéne Ysaÿe, reworking a Saint-Saëns piano étude (Opus 52, Number 6) into a violin-piano duo. As of this writing, the best site for pre-orders is an imusic Web page, which is based in Denmark but deals in United States currency!

The major work on the program is the four-movement “grand sonata” by Vieuxtemps. I must confess that my knowledge of this composer is very limited. The fact that I know anything about him at all can be attributed to Jascha Heifetz and Gidon Kremer. I have to confess that Monteiro’s account of that sonata was not particularly convincing, which left me wondering if even he was convinced.

The remaining selection on the album were also not particularly familiar to me through either recital encounters or recordings. However, I came away with the impression what both violinist and accompanist were on more familiar ground for these selections. Indeed, since most of my knowledge of Franck comes from his orchestral and organ music, I found myself particularly drawn to his duo tracks on the album.

As always, my thoughts are reflections of personal tastes; and I just hope that any of those that sail under my flag will be willing to skip over the opening four tracks if they are put off by Vieuxtemps, since there are more than enough gems in the remaining selections!