Episode 15: April in Paris

It’s “April in Paris” on this edition, featuring compositions with the sounds and sensibilities of the City of Light, including violin showpieces, a scintillating Debussy quartet, frenetic Jean Françaix, and much more, all played by the outstanding students and renowned faculty of the Heifetz Institute.

This Episode’s Playlist

Elgar: Salut D’Amour, Op. 12 [excerpt]
Julia Angelov, violin | Zhenni Li-Cohen, piano
Kreeger Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.19.2019

Jean Françaix: String Trio in C Major
I. Allegretto vivo
II. Scherzo
Fiona Khuong-Huu, violin | Joseph Skerik, viola | Boubacar Diallo, cello
Christ Lutheran Church ,Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 03.14.2023

Maurice Ravel: Pavane
Andrew Gonzalez, viola | Carlos Avila, piano
House concert, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 01.12.2017

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10
IV. Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion
Geneva Lewis, violin | Sophia Steger, violin | Emma Wernig, viola | Ethan Sandman, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 08.06.2015

Jules Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs [EXCERPT]
Thomas Mesa, cello (Miami, FL) | Yoon Lee, piano (New York, NY)
Heifetz Institute Virtual Recording | 08.01.2020

Jenő Hubay: Carmen Fantasie
Ria Honda, violin | Zhenni Li-Cohen, piano
Evermay, Washington, DC
Heifetz Institute Recording | 05.03.2019

Saint-Saëns: Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Fiona Khuong-Huu, violin | Allison Freeman, piano
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.07.2022

Go Deeper

• From a bust on Broadway to a beloved jazz standard...read up on the fascinating history of the song April in Paris, penned in 1932 by composer Vernon Duke and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg (of Over the Rainbow fame).
• Discover more about French composer Jean Françaix (1912-1997) whose childhood talents “were so extraordinary that his illustrious teacher Nadia Boulanger wrote to Françaix’s mother ‘Madame, I don’t see why we should waste our time teaching him harmony. He already knows harmony. I don’t know how, but he knows it; He was born knowing it. Let’s work on counterpoint’.”

More at heifetzinstitute.org