Barnes & Noble
EMI was wise to send a recording team to Lugano, Switzerland for Martha Argerich's "carte blanche" chamber music festival in June 2002. Fans of the pianist will want to snap up her sizzling live accounts of Beethoven's Clarinet Trio, Brahms's Sonata for Two Pianos, and Mendelssohn's D Minor Trio, and though Argerich does not perform on this disc of sonatas by César Franck and Sergei Rachmaninoff, her electric spirit seems to hover over it. Brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon share the limelight here, and one can understand why Argerich likes to work with them. Accompanied by pianist Alexandre Gurning, violinist Renaud gives a high-voltage performance of the Franck. The music veritably heaves with Romantic fervor, yet there is something quite elegant about Renaud's music making. His tone has a silky sheen, and while he and Gurning are free with tempos, they also know when to play simply. Cellist Gautier, joined by the fleet-fingered Lilya Zilberstein (Argerich's partner in the Brahms Two-Piano Sonata), is not as incendiary as his older brother, but the warmth of his playing is extraordinary. Here is Rachmaninoff's Russian soul in all its sad, sweet glory. Gautier's tone is sinewy and mellow, and he brings a sense of real intimacy to the composer's tender melodies. The recording quality is very good, with a natural balance between the strings and piano. Highly recommended. Andrew Farach-Colton
All Music Guide
This remarkable disc features recordings of two live performances from 2002 at Martha Argerich's Lugano Festival: César Franck's "Sonata for piano and violin," played by Alexandre Gurning and Renaud Capuçon, and Rachmaninov's "Sonata for cello and piano," performed by Capuçon and Lilya Zilberstein. The CD cover and the liner notes mistakenly identify Franck's work as a sonata for violin and piano, also implying that Rachmaninov's composition, a great pianist's creation, should be called a sonata for piano and cello. It is Franck's sonata, however, that assigns a fundamental role to the piano. Gurning's clear, assertive pianism beautifully complements Capuçon's subtle, imaginative reading of the score. Franck's sonata is a particular challenge for the violinist, as the violin carries the fundamental idea/motif that defines the entire work. In a sense, the implied contemplative and emotional potential of this composition is limited by the reiteration of the leading idea, and the violinist must, in order to keep the work's momentum, imaginatively explore the instrument's vast sonic potential. Capuçon, with his ability to illuminate the entire emotional universe of this work, from manifestations of frantic restlessness to varieties of melancholy contemplation, offers a rich and satisfying performance that rewards the listener with original and spellbinding sonorities. Rachmaninov's sonata, played by Renaud's younger brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and pianist Lilya Zilberstein, is a unique musical experience. Unlike Franck's sonata, Rachmaninov's composition is pure poetry: it is unencumbered by leading themes, fundamental ideas, and cyclical constructions. Rachmaninov's unique melody -- vast, oceanic, fluid, and free in its authentic lyricism -- finds the perfect mediator in Gautier's warm, intimate, rich, and quintessentially poetic playing. Thanks to Gautier's profound understanding of Rachmaninov's genius, this sonata may finally gain recognition as one of the greatest works in the modern cello repertoire. Zoran Minderovic
BBC Music Magazine
Renaud Capucon's thoughtful partnership with Alexander Gurning is unusual by any standards... Capucon's brother, Gautier, spins gold out of all the long-limbed melodies. David Nice
Los Angeles Times
Renaud Capuçon's elegantly creamy performance of the Franck Violin Sonata is like an injection of aural foam into the inner ear. His brother's [Gautier's] rapt Rachmaninov performance contains some of the smoothest cello playing to be heard anywhere. Mark Swed
Courier-Post
Both performances bristle with the bravura intensity the music demands. Renaud Capucon sweeps through the first two movements of the Franck sonata with a fiery abandon matched by his accompanist, Lilya Zilberstein.... Passion also characterizes Gautier Capucon's performance of Rachmaninov's Sonata. Robert Baxter
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