Philippe Graffin, Claire Désert, Hebe Mensinga, Szymon Marciniak, Tom Eisner - Hungarian Dances (2008)

Tracklist

01. Ruralia Hungarica Op. 32c: Andante Rubato Alla Zingaresca
02. Marche Miniature Viennoise
03. Csárdás
04. Hungarian Dance No. 2 In D Minor (arr.Joachim)
05. Valse triste
06. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (arr. Milstein)
07. Romance Oubliée
08. Hungarian Dance No. 6 In B-flat Major (arr. Joachim)
09. Scènes de la Csárda, Op. 32, No. 4: Hejre Kati
10. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 1 Stick Dance
11. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 2 Sash Dance
12. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 3 In One Spot
13. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 4 Horn Dance
14. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 5 Romanian Polka
15. Romanian Folk Dances (arr. Szekely): No. 6 Fast Dance
16. Bagatelle
17. La Plus Que Lente (arr. Leon Roques)
18. Hungarian Dance No. 9 In e Minor (arr. Joachim)
19. Hymne Zur Verherrlichung Des Großen Joachim
20. Duos for Two Violins: No. 26 Teasing Song
21. Duos for Two Violins: No. 28 Sorrow
22. Duos for Two Violins: No. 32 Song from Máramaros
23. Duos for Two Violins: No. 42 Arabian Song
24. Duos for Two Violins: No. 43 Pizzicato
25. Hungarian Dance No. 7 In a Major (arr. Joachim)
26. L'amour, Valse Bluette



Philippe Graffin is the latest violinist to join ONYX, after several outstanding discs of rare French and English repertoire for labels such as Hyperion and Avie. This new recital brings together the mesmerising intensity of Gypsy violin playing with classical composers’ response to it.

Released to coincide with a notable novel called Hungarian Dances by writer and journalist Jessica Duchen. She explains: “When I asked Philippe Graffin, a treasured friend and colleague, to check the manuscript of Hungarian Dances for violinistic errors, I little dreamed he’d respond by making this recording: a CD inspired by the novel. Yet the novel was partly inspired by a CD – Philippe and Claire’s beautiful recital ‘In the Shade of Forests’, [Avie Records, rave reviews worldwide] evoking the spirit of the archetypal wandering Gypsy violinist”.

Philippe’s recital is loosely based around the book but is also designed to work as a programme in its own right with several pieces chosen only for the recording including rarities by such composers as Von Vecsey, Hubay, Scarlatescu and Arthur Hartmann.

Claire Désert is well-known in France for several solo CDs for FNAC and other labels and here plays both piano and piano luthéal, the ‘prepared piano’ that Ravel had made for Tzigane in 1919 and which imitates the sound of a Hungarian cimbalom to striking effect in many of these pieces.

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