Schmitt: Works for Violin & Piano Beata Halska & Claudio Chaiquin

• Florent Schmitt (1870-1958): Quatre Pièces, Op. 25 (1901)
• 1 No. 1. Lied 04:08
• 2 No. 2. Nocturne 02:38
• 3 No. 3. Serenade 01:46
• 4 No. 4. Barcarolle 04:36
• 5 Scherzo vif, Op. 59, No. 2 (version for violin and piano) 05:36
• 6 Chant du soir, Op. 7 04:38
• Habeyssé – suite pour violon et piano, Op. 110 (1947)
• 7 A. Assez anime 03:41
• 8 B. Un peu attarde 04:18
• 9 C. Anime 04:03
• Sonate libre en deux parties enchaînées (ad modum clementis aquae), Op. 68 (1919)
• 10 I. Lent sans exageration 11:37
• 11 II. Anime - Lent - Anime 18:14
• Total Runtime 01:05:15

Info for Schmitt: Works for Violin & Piano

Florent Schmitt was one of the most original French composers of his generation, and his chamber music shows him at his most personal. The Quatre Pièces, Op. 25 are evocatively lyrical while the Scherzo vif brims with intricate but fiery virtuosity. The Sonate libre, Op. 68 remains one of his most admired works, a bold diptych with lyric rhapsody at its core but one that also evokes the tragedies of the First World War. The late masterpiece Habeyssé, Op. 110 reveals the explosive power and subtle poetry of Schmitt’s imagination.

„Fifty years ago Florent Schmitt was represented in the disc catalogue by just one track of an LP, and today we still only have a very small fraction of his large output. That makes a new disc with four world première recordings for violin and piano all the more valuable, particularly as it introduces works from his wealth of chamber music. It presents music written over a period of fifty-two years and is largely a series of cameos, many of them linked, as in the Quatre Pieces, and mostly in a mood of relaxation, with the Chant du soir, a piece of considerable beauty. Habeyssé also exists in a version for violin and orchestra, its happy nature so readily attractive in a lightweight charm. There is just one extended work, the Sonata dating from 1919, and is his best known piece in the genre. In two highly contrasting movements that are very quirky in content and shape, the piano has the major role, with the violin largely decorating. Throughout his life his style changed little, mostly written in that sensuous mood that was prevalent in the early 20th century and which you will particularly find in the music of Szymanowksi. The violin soloist is the Polish born Beata Halska, who is now resident in France having won many international awards. She produces a warm and silky tone that is ideal for the music… She has a French-Argentinean partner, Claudio Chaiquin, who is both nimble and with an intrinsic feel for Schmitt. The sound quality is excellent, the disc making a desirable addition to the catalogue.“ (David Denton, David’s Review Corner)

Beata Halska, violin
Claudio Chaiquin, piano

Beata Halska
Born in Poland, Beata Halska, has chosen France as her adoptive homeland. She has achieved a considerable international reputation. In addition to the greatest violin concerts, she intensively dedicates herself to chamber music as well as to rarely executed works and world premieres.

She debuted with Mozart’s Violin Concert in Salzburg at the age of 15, and three years later she played Brahms’s Concert at the Salle Gaveau in Paris. Her artistic development has been strongly influenced by famous pedagogues like Y. Menuhin, J. Jankielewicz, S, Vegh and H. Szeryng.

She obtained the highest distinction (Premier Prix) in J. Fournier’s class at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique of Paris. She has attended, as guest soloist, great festivals like Menton, Radio France, Paris and Reims; well-known concert halls such as the Theatre of the Champs Elysees, the Opera Comique, the Salle Gaveau, Radio France, the great Theater of Brescia, Milan and Lisbon, the Philharmonic af Warsaw, the Sun­tory Hall in Tokyo, GEVANDHAUS of Leipzig… and orchestra ensembles such as the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Mozarteum of Salzburg, the Pameriggi Musicali di Milano, the Audo/i­Ensemble, the Classica of Porto, the Capella Cracoviensis, the RTV Symphonic Orchestra of Warsaw as well as the Polish Philharmonic Orchestra.

Claudio Chaiquin
French-Argentine pianist Claudio Chaiquin was born in Buenos Aires, where he studied at the Conservatorio Manuel de Falla with Dora Castro, a former pupil of Walter Gieseking. He was a prizewinner at the Young Soloists Competition of Radio Nacional Argentina. On the advice of Magda Tagliaferro he moved to Europe, continuing his studies in Paris under Dominique Merlet and Marie-Claude Équoy. Success in the Claude Kahn Competition led to an appearance as soloist at the Palais dʼUnesco in 1987. In 1989 he became an assistant to Aquiles delle Vigne, who introduced him to the Arrau technique. In the same year he was awarded the Diplôme Supérieur dʼExécution of the Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot in Paris. In 1991 he won first prize in the Caltanissetta Vincenzo Bellini International Competition, and in 1993 was awarded the coveted diploma of the Rotterdam Conservatorium. He has performed in most of the major cities of the world, and appeared with leading orchestras and distinguished conductors. Well known as a teacher, he is a regular member of juries for national and international piano competitions. Claudio Chaiquin is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and a laureate of the Cziffra Foundation, Senlis.

Booklet for Schmitt: Works for Violin & Piano