Lugansky – Franck - Prélude, Aria, et Final

César Franck (1822-1890) Prélude, Aria, et Final, for piano, FWV 23 (1886) Nikolai Lugansky, 2020 Moscow Philharmonic Society [0:00] I. Prélude. Allegro moderato e maestoso [8:46] II. Aria. Lento [14:25] III. Final. Allegro molto ed agitato “To Alfred Cortot (who made a classic recording of the Prélude, Aria et Final in 1932), the Prélude’s opening theme evoked a choir of angels by Piero della Francesca, hymning the nativity. Other commentators describe it fairly as a march, though the deportment of its serene gait conveys radiant aspiration -- we hear a maestoso soft thunder. Franck had enormous hands, and he asks, without comment, for the pianist to span a series of elevenths, and even a thirteenth, without evident discomfort -- a feat beyond the grasp of many. A second theme brings the inevitable note of anxiety and a development in which the first theme takes on a risoluto swagger. After a climax, a third theme, sostenuto e serioso, is i