Violinist Zina Schiff plays the Cesar Franck Sonata

SAN DIEGO — I first heard the Cesar Franck Sonata when I was sixteen and attended a recital of the great Polish-born Jewish violinist, Bronislaw Huberman. His closing work was the Franck Sonata, his signature piece. It became one of my favorites and I worked on it in my chamber music class at UCLA. That was before my youngest sister, Zina, was even born. Little did I dream that one day, I would have a sister who would play the Franck Sonata in this glorious recording.

Cesar Franck (1822-1890) was born in Liege, Belgium. He was a child prodigy and at 13, went to study in Paris.  He settled there as a church musician, teacher and composer. Deeply religious, he served as the organist at the Sainte-Clotilde Church. His sonata was written when he was 63 years old and presented as a wedding present to his young friend, the great Belgium Jewish violinist, Eugene Ysaye, who performed it frequently during his long career.

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was a native of Geneva, Switzerland. He studied with Eugene Ysaye, who encouraged the young man to compose. Bloch immigrated to the United States in 1916. His first violin sonata was a reaction to World War I. His second violin sonata, a one-movement work, Poeme mystique, was an antidote to the first. Bloch’s music, much of it influenced by his Jewish heritage, is featured in Zina’s All-Bloch recording, which will be written about in a forthcoming article. Zina also recorded his Abodah on the Zeisl, Copland, Bloch Dauber recording (see San Diego Jewish World article, A musical commemoration of the Holocaust, April 20, 2020).

The final short work on the CD, the Berceuse by Julien  Krein (1913-1996), was written when the composer was 15 years old. Both Julien’s father, Gregory, and uncle, Alexander, were active members of Russia’s Society for Jewish Folk Music. On two of Zina’s CDs featuring music from the Society, she plays works by Alexander Krein. The 4TAY recording, King David’s Lyre (see article, Four violin pieces by Zina Schiff in celebration of Jerusalem Day, May 18, 2020) opens with Krein’s Caprice Hebraique, and the 4Tay release, The Golden Dove (see article, Jewish folk music for Yom Ha’atzma’ut, April 27, 2020) includes Krein’s Air and Dance, the latter, arranged by Zina’s famous teacher and great violin virtuoso, Jascha Heifetz.

For your listening pleasure, I have selected the final two movements of the Cesar Franck Sonata:

Ben moderato Recitativo–Fantasia (track 3):

 

Allegretto poco mosso (track 4):

This was how critics received the album: “Ravishingly Beautiful (Audio Club of Atlanta);” “the album blooms with tender warmth rewarding musicality (String Magazine);” “Schiff seems to have an infinite bow, so are the bow changes, so fluid the melodic lines. There are impassioned exchanges and terrific exuberance… But the overall impression is one of utter joy (Music Web International).”

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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.  She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com