Piano Works: Preludes

Michael Korstick (piano)

César Franck’s great Violin Sonata in A, arranged for piano by Alfred Cortot, forms the focus on our new solo CD featuring the gifted and successful pianist Michael Korstick. The version without disturbing scratching noises does indeed have its appeal, Korstick ironically opines and then explains, I know that I’m now making myself extremely unpopular with all violinists, but some things come across even better in the version for piano alone. One doesn’t miss the violin. This is of course a controversial statement, especially since it refers to the embodiment of the sensuous romantic violin sonata.Michael Korstick regards this work as Franck’s most important, central solo piece and the Franck expert Jörg Demus views the Prélude, Aria et Final as one of the few lucid compositions of the late romantic period and pardons it for its difficulty in playing technique: But what do difficulties mean when the emotional content compensates one for it in such a rich way!

Franck, C:
 Prelude, Aria et Final M23 (1886/7)
 Prélude, Choral et Fugue, M21
 Violin Sonata in A major (arr. for piano solo by Cortot)