Francis Duroy, an internationally renowned violinist, was present Monday in the impressive “Grande Chambre de la Cour d’Appel de Nancy”. For an exceptional recital … No wonder then that this room was full that evening of a conquered audience.

A remarkable pianist (Carine Zarifian) and a violinist (Francis Duroy) who was able to unleash all his virtuosity…

Sensitivity to the fingertips of both the violinist and the pianist. A remarkable game individually, an excellent cohesion of the whole … A treat. To listen to and see.

The intimacy of the Gothic Notre-Dame of Kerdévot church in Ergué-Gabéric, despite the constraints of overly reverberated acoustics, is suitable for the performance of two rare works for violin and cello (the Duo by Zoltan Kodály and the Sonata by Maurice Ravel) by the bows of Francis Duroy and Henri Demarquette. Committed and rhapsodic interpretation at will for the play of the Hungarian, fiery and rigorous for that of the author of the Boléro; an exercise in a little austere style but perfectly assumed by high-level soloists. These rare moments of music are shared by an attentive audience, almost frustrated by an hour of music so successful that a Fantasia of Lassus and the resumption in bis of the Very lively median of the Sonata by Ravel completes to satiate it.

Michel le Naour 

As well as the Violin and Piano Sonata recorded here, Charles Koechlin’s writing is precise and free of all emphasis. The refinement and balance of the finale are a barely concealed tribute to Gabriel Fauré to whom this sonata is dedicated. The dark and heavy atmosphere of the Quintet evokes the transfigured night of Schoenberg, nothing less.

In the Sonata in A Major opus 13 by Faure the bow of Francis Duroy and his great sense of color worked wonders and perfectly rendered this work of great plenitude.

The sounds of two stringed instruments filled the ears of spectators of the Musical Weeks this Thursday in Ergué-Gabéric.

Henri Demarquette on the cello and Francis Duroy on the violin had chosen an unusual program, which perhaps explains a slightly reduced, but high-quality audience.

The sonata of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly invites you to travel and introspection. The cello attack in the first movement gives this instrument its full power, accompanied by the purity of the violin. Throughout the concert, the exceptional silence and the listening quality of the audience did not stop.

In Ravel’s sonata, which followed this foray into Eastern Europe, we find the talent of the two artists, offering a sinuous theme in the first movement, pizzicati and dialogues, octaves and perfect unison in the rest of the work.

If the two artists succeeded in translating remarkably the intimate feelings which lived the composers played this evening, the fact remained that it was indeed the passion which led the dance. Sonatensatz by Brahms, sonata in A minor by Schumann, sonata in D minor by Saint-Saëns, Spanish dance by Granados, Cantabile by Paganini… electrified an audience who did not know whether to stick to the notes or if their eyes should be used to soak up the music of the masters.

Because Francis Duroy became one with his instrument, perhaps it was the violin itself and its twirling bow, it seems to have become uncontrollable, which imposed on the artist this passionate, even frenzied game.

Pedagogue and dripping, Francis Duroy took advantage of a “lull” to tell a thousand and one anecdotes relating to the work he was about to interpret and all in humor for the greatest joy of a conquered public who appreciated the simplicity and the talent of the two great artists, accustomed to the great international scenes.

From Kreisler to Sarasate, from encore to encore, it was necessary to conclude and it was under a salvo fed by applause that it was necessary to stop, that ended this evening placed under the sign of virtuosity, around a glass of shared and beneficent friendship