Roussel – Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 • String Trio

‘Though a composer long overshadowed by his French contemporaries Debussy, Ravel, and Fauré, Roussel's mature works nonetheless offer a beauty and sincerity that is at the height of the art form. The works featured on this album are lesser-known but wonderful masterpieces of the French chamber music repertoire that reflect Roussel's musical evolution: from the thrillingly Romantic sensibility shown in his early Sonata No. 1 to the compact but no less dynamic neoclassical mature style of the other works.’

 David Bowlin, violin


Albert ROUSSEL (1869–1937)
Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 1 and 2 2
String Trio 3

David Bowlin, Violin • Tony Cho, Piano 1–2
Kirsten Docter, Viola 3 • Dmitry Kouzov, Cello 3

Although he is best remembered for his highly regarded stage and orchestral works, Roussel also composed a significant body of masterful yet relatively unknown chamber music. The Romantic early First Violin Sonata is an epic journey of soaring majesty, while the later Second Violin Sonata is dramatic and succinct, sharing its dynamic neo-Classical style with the String Trio, Roussel’s last completed work.

Listen to an extract from Violin Sonata No. 2:
I. Allegro con moto
About the Artists

Violinist David Bowlin is on the violin and chamber music faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he also serves as chair of strings. First Prize winner of the 2003 Washington International Competition, he has performed extensively as a soloist, including for premieres of violin concertos written for him at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Aspen Music Festival. He is a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and a former member of the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players.

Pianist Tony Cho enjoys a multifaceted career as a recitalist, chamber musician and vocal coach. He has held collaborative piano and coaching positions at The Juilliard School, University of Southern California, Chapman University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he currently serves on the chamber music faculty. He has held appointments at several opera houses, serving as assistant conductor and coach.

Kirsten Docter is associate professor of viola and chamber music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She was the First Prize winner at the Primrose International and American String Teachers Association Viola Competitions, which launched her on a career that has included a 23-year tenure with the Cavani String Quartet, concerts at major series and festivals, and numerous appointments as a masterclass clinician and teacher.

Cellist Dmitry Kouzov has performed worldwide both as an orchestral and chamber musician, and as a recitalist. He has made solo appearances with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. He has also performed as a guest artist at many international festivals including Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Seoul International and Janáček’s May.

More recordings of music by Roussel
8.572243
★★★★★
★★★★
‘Denève has an unerring feel for Roussel’s idiom, for that combination of rhythmic drive, precision of accent, and elegant phrasing that somehow seems both personal to this composer as well as quintessentially French. Beyond that, he gets excellent, truly refined playing from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and he’s expertly recorded. Essential.’
ClassicsToday.com
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★★★★
‘An excellent disc, splendidly and idiomatically performed and a superb advertisement for composer, conductor and orchestra. Highly recommended.’
Gramophone
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Bacchus et Ariane (Complete Ballet)
Symphony No. 3

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★★★★
‘[I]n the final Bacchanal Denève whips up an orchestral fury the likes of which we haven't heard in this piece since Munch.’
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Le Testament de la Tante Caroline
Lenormand • Gomar • Komitès • Gasse • Mesrine
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★★★★
‘A truly exciting discovery, excellently annotated and brilliantly recorded. Not to be missed, especially by aficionados of French opera.’
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