City Recital Hall, Sydney
July 18, 2018

Few works drip passion and drama like César Franck’s 1886 Violin Sonata. Written as a wedding present for the legendary Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, the work has become a jewel of the instrument’s repertoire – and it’s been poached by violists, cellists and flute players along the way.

The Omega Ensemble’s Alexandra Osborne brought a sound both sweet and deliciously dark to her assured performance of the Sonata with pianist Clemens Leske, kicking off the ensemble’s Love: Weber and Franck concert, carving beautiful, well-paced phrases with a tone well-suited to sing through the substantial piano part. The second movement saw her sound take on a fierce edge, Leske and Osborne always well-matched and pulling very much in the same direction with a muscular power to their fortissimos. Osborne gave a convincing account of the Recitativo – Fantasia, and if more lightness perhaps could have served to build the dramatic climaxes even more powerfully, she and Leske nonetheless propelled the music forward into a thrilling finale that blazed, ultimately, to a resplendent conclusion that more than justified the work’s perennial popularity.

Lloyd Van’t Hoff and David Rowden...