Invited to make his first recording by Yehudi Menuhin, Philippe’s discography now includes over forty concertos, numerous world premières and rediscoveries such as that of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Concerto or the Ysaÿe 7th solo Sonata
Click on CD images for more details.
Ysaÿe 7th Solo Sonata Première Recording
Fiddler’s Blues
This duo’s rapport comes across in sparky performances. Premieres of pieces by Ysaÿe are a draw, but the Enescu sonata and Hora Unirii are a real treat and leave you feeling anything but blue.” ★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine
The big story here is the first recording of a previously undiscovered seventh unaccompanied violin sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe…Played with flourishing panache and easy command, it makes an electrifying opening …
The exquisite little unaccompanied transcription of Clair de lune (co-written with David Matthews) deserves to become a standard encore – though I strongly suspect that, like everything on this splendid disc, it’s not remotely as effortless as Graffin makes it sound.
- Gramophone
World première recording
“Soloists who search library stacks for lost masterpieces are as likely to turn up dross as gold. But in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto, Philippe Graffin, a French violinist, has found the kind of gem that makes the effort worthwhile…
Mr Graffin plays the work in the spirit of its time, with well-judged portamento to give sweetly turned melodies an extra measure of shapeliness and heart. Even in speedier, more overtly virtuosic passages, he maintains a singing, beautiful tone.
Allan Kozinn, – The New York Times
Philippe Graffin triumphantly demonstrates what an effective, endearing work it is, acutely responsive as he is to its bittersweet lyricism while equally relishing the many opportunities for solo display …Graffin plays with such vibrant character and imagination, and the whole venture radiates such a life-affirming spontaneity and joy in music-making”
– Gramophone, Editor’s Choice
“Graffin’s performance is most distinguished. I cannot remember one on disc that so magically exploits the range of pianissimo that the score asks for. This is not a barnstorming performance, as so many are with this massive work, but one which in total concentration brings out to the full the tenderness and poetry, not just in the central slow movement but in the other movements too, not least in the accompanied cadenza which is yearningly beautiful.
The story is similar with the first version of Chausson’s Poème… Here again the performance could hardly be more subtle, with Graffin maintaining the gentlest of dynamics while keeping total concentration”
Gramophone, editor’ s choice
Includes Nathan Milstein’s Solo Violin transcription of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No.1, Arthur Hartmann’s "L’Amour, Valse Bluette", Dohnanyi, Bartok, Brahms, Monti, Hubay, Kreisler, Vecsey... ★★★★★– BBC Music Magazine
Enescu "Impressions d'Enfance" op 28, Debussy Sonata + original transcriptions, Ravel Sonate Posthume, "Tzigane" ( Version with Lutheal ) ---Gramophone (Editor’s Choice) -click on the image for full description
"Philippe Graffin makes a good first of directing from the violin – He always finds the right tone colour for a phrase, and the point of balance for his phrasing." ---BBC Music Magazine
Schumann Cello Concerto (transcription for violin by the composer) Schumann 2nd Sonata, Clara Schumann "Three Romances"
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto ( Cadenza Ysaÿe ) Rodion Shchedrin "Concerto Parlando", Prokofiev "five melodies" ( orch. Shchedrin) Dvarionas "by the lake" (click on image for details )
Schumann Violin Concerto, Phantasy, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E min. ( cadenza Graffin)
Barkauskas "Jeux" for violin and orchestra, "Duo concertante" for viola and orchestra ( in memory of Consul Chiune Sugihara), "Partita", "two monologues"
---Gramophone editor's choice
Saint-Saëns Sonatas 1 and 2, Tryptique, Berceuse, 2 Elegies (-click on image for details)
Chopin "1st Ballade"and "Valse Brilliante" transcribed by Ysaÿe, Saint-Saëns-Ysaÿe "Caprice d'aprés l' Etude in form of a Waltz", Saint-Saens rare works and transcriptions
Fauré's "Violin Concerto", Ernest Guiraud "Caprice", Lalo "Rhapsodie Norvégienne", "Guitare", Canteloube "Poème"
Ysaÿe 6 Violin Solo Sonatas, "Poème Elégiaque", "Rêve d'enfant"
prix Caecilia
-Chausson "Poème" : original version for Violin, String Quartet and Piano, (world première)
Canteloube "Dans la Montagne", De Breville, Sonata, Pascal Devoyon, Philippe Graffin
Jongen Violin Concerto, Adagio + Fantasia for violin and Orchestra, Lazzari Rhapsodie, Graffin, Brabbins, Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Philippe Graffin’s playing brings back my whole childhood and the joy I had in playing or listening to the brilliant and romantic shorter pieces of the violinist’s repertoire…He has a rare gift of playing a phrase in the most elegant manner, in fact I have rarely heard music played more elegantly and brilliantly .
Yehudi Menuhin
Britten Violin Concerto, Philharmonia Orchestra, Delius Violin Concerto, Milford , Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Nicholas Collon, David LLoyd-Jones
Delius Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, Suite for Violin and Orchestra, Legende
Cliffe , D'Erlanger, Philippe Graffin, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, David Lloyd-Jones
Miklos Rosza, Double Concerto, Graffin, Wallfisch, BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Tauno Martinen Violin Concerto, Philippe Graffin, Turku Philharmonic, Ari Raisilainen
Philippe Gaubert, Violin Concerto, Philippe Graffin, Orchestre Symphonique du Luxembourg, Marc Soustrot
Jean Cras; Quintet, Trio, Philippe Graffin Juliette Hurel, Marie Pierre Langlamet, Miguel Da Sylva, Henri Demarquette
Jean Cras , pieces for his children, Graffin
