Dong-Suk Kang, Pascal Devoyon - Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Poulenc: Violin Sonatas (1989)

This CD gives you a little slice of the restoration and development of quintessential French chamber music that gained momentum in the late 19th century and peaked around 1900 - the Golden Era of French art, music and culture. In opposition to the latest fads from Germany (Wagner's giantatism) and overzelous Parisian operas, the luminous pioneers of this vital movement in Paris were Frank, Faure, Saint Saens, Ravel, Massenet, Chausson and later the more modern "impressionist", Claude Debussy.

Violinist Kang has an affinity for the full-blooded passion of this highly romantic-era chamber music while French pianist Devoyen has been probably playing this music from childhood. They have a coherent and dynamic ensemble together.

This CD is a decent intro to this rich musical era (a favorite of mine in the classical repertoire) and can lead into even richer fields of gold (Faure's sontata in A also on Naxos with Kang, Frank's A major sonata, the piano trios of Faure, Debussy and Saint Saens - and most special of all, all the chamber music of Ravel which I find most fascinating.