ICR Romanian Cultural Institute London

Philippe Graffin & Claire Desert @ ICR London

         

The Enescu Society in London has invited two outstanding musicians Philippe Graffin (violin) & Claire Desert (piano) to give a recital in our established concert series.

Programme:
R. Schumann: Sonata in D minor
M. Ravel: Sonata in G major
M. Ravel: Tzigane
G. Enescu: Impressions d'Enfance Op 20
F. Schubert: Fantaisie in C D934

Philippe Graffin's individual style of playing and outstanding achievements have placed him among the finest of French violinists. A student of the late Joseph Gingold and Philipp Hirschhorn, Graffin's interpretations of his native repertoire compelled Gramophone magazine to proclaim "his understanding of the idiom is second to none," while his charismatic and imaginative performances of the mainstream and contemporary repertoire have been praised throughout the world by audiences and reviewers alike. Philippe has shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians of our time: Lord Menuhin, M.Rostropovich, Martha Argerich, S.Commisiona, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Additionally he regularly partners the cellists Gary Hoffman, Truls Mork, pianists Pascal Devoyon, Stephen Kovacevich, Claire Désert, Olli Mustonen and the Chilingirian Quartet to name but a few. As concerto soloist, he has performed all over Europe with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, The Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Hague's Residentie Orkest, Gothenburg Symphony, Czech Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 he performed the Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto at the BBC Proms and in 2010 at the Three Choirs Festival he will play the Elgar Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Norrington to mark the centenary of the work's premiere Philippe Graffin is the founder and artistic director of "Consonances," the international chamber music festival of St Nazaire, France and is invited regularly to appear at the major chamber music festivals across Europe and the United States. He has also appeared in the BBC Proms.
Philippe has made numerous landmark recordings. For Hyperion his recordings include the Ysaÿe sonatas, the complete Chausson chamber music, the three Saint-Saëns violin concertos , a collection of rare French works for violin and orchestra and rare sonatas of Pierre de Breville and Joseph Canteloube for Hyperion. For Avie Records recordings include the world premiere recording of the Violin Concerto of Afro-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a recital disc of Debussy, Enescu & Ravel, Elgar's Violin Concerto, coupled with Chausson's Poème in original manuscript versions, shortlisted for the Gramophone awards and a double CD of Mozart duos and the Sinfonia Concertante with Nobuko Imai. He has also recorded Miklos Rosza's Sinfonia Concertante with Raphael Wallfisch for ASV. Graffin's most recent recordings include a virtuoso recital CD 'Hungarian Dances' on Onyx Classics and a highly successful recording of rare works for violin and orchestra of Frederick Delius for Dutton Vocalion. (Editor's choice Classic FM Magazine, Nov.09). Forthcoming releases include the world première recording of Shchedrin's Concerto Parlando and a Schumann CD, both on Onyx Classics. Last season included returns to the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Lithuanian National Philharmonic, a tour to Taiwan with the Karl Weigl concerto and performances in the US of the Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto with the New Haven Symphony. Graffin gave the first performance in over 100 years of the Frederick Cliffe violin concerto at the English Music Festival, which was broadcast on BBC Radio and in a concert at the Wigmore Hall to mark the bicentenary of Charles Darwin he worked with the London Sinfonietta both as soloist and conductor. Recitals included concerts in Cambridge and London with pianist Claire Désert, concerts in Gstaad with Jeremy Menuhin and Turku with Olli Mustonen.
He also gave performances at the Wigmore Hall and at the Sion Festival in Switzerland of his children's story, The Hidden Fairy, with the actress Marie-Christine Barrault. 2009/10 includes his debut in Italy with the Orchestra di Padova et del Veneto, a return to the Johannesburg Philharmonic to play the Beethoven violin concerto, concerts in Norway and Portugal as well as performances of the Elgar Violin Concerto in Leeds with the Orchestra of Opera North and at the Three Choirs Festival, a recital in London for the Enescu Society and at the Festival d'Alba in Italy. He will also make a recording for Hyperion's Romantic Violin series with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Philippe Graffin plays a Domenico Busano violin, made in Venice, 1730. He is currently Artist in Residence at the University of New York at Stony Brook.

Claire Désert entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 14 and won first prizes for piano performance and for chamber music in the classes of Ventislav Yankoff and Jean Hubeau. She was later awarded a bursary by the French Government and studied at the Tchaïkovsky Conservatoire in Moscow in Yevgeni Malinin's class. On returning to Paris, she followed a post-graduate course in chamber music with Roland Pidoux. After winning prizes at the Senigallia competition in italy in 1986 and at the Santander Competition in Spain in 1987, she embarked on a concert career which took throughout Europe and to North America and Japan. Claire Désert has taken part in a great many important festivals and has appeared with many major orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National d'Ile de France, The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec.
She also devotes a great deal of time to chamber music and is a member of the Kandinsky quartet, an ensemble which won prizes at international competitions in Florence and Melbourne and which appears regularly both in France and abroad.
Claire Désert has made several recordings for Aria Music, including the Scriabine and Dvorak concertos and works by Schumann, as well as recordings for Mirare, Virgin, Naïve.

From September 2009 the Romanian Cultural Institute awards the Enescu Society sholarship to a student at the Royal Academy of Music.

When: Thursday, 4 February 2010, 7-9 pm;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute, London

Admission is free, but places are limited. Early booking is well recommended.
Please reserve your seats at T: 020 7752 0134, E: office@icr-london.co.uk.
Latecomers will be admitted at the interval.