Charlotte's Place, 109 Greenwich Street between Rector and Carlisle Streets, NYC. Free lecture-recital sponsored by Trinity Church. Contact charlottesplace@trinitywallstreet.org for more information.

Franchomme was the most renowned Parisian cellist of his day, best friend to Chopin and the dedicatee of Chopin’s final work, his cello sonata Op. 65. This program includes three Franchomme works that have never been performed in the USA, making it of particular interest to lovers of the cello repertoire and Chopin aficionados, as well as important to scholars of French romantic music.

Most of Franchomme's works are out of print, but I am performing many lovely unknown Franchomme pieces in concerts this autumn in New York and throughout the US (both out-of-print editions and manuscripts). Last summer I visited France on a research grant, where I met some of Franchomme's descendants and discovered fantastic out-of-print works in the Biblothèque Nationale de France, Paris.

Program:

• Franchomme Caprice No. 9 for Solo Cello, 1835
• Chopin-Franchomme Preludes, Op. 28, Nos. 7 and 20, arranged for Cello and Piano
• Franchomme Air Irlandais Varié For Cello and Piano, 1831
• Chopin-Franchomme Nocturne, Op. 55, No. 1 arranged for Cello and Piano, 1846
• Franchomme Fantasy on The Enchanted Flute by Mozart, Op. 40, for Cello and Piano, 1870

Additional pieces on September 29th only:

• Franchomme arrangements for cello quartet (from Franchomme's manuscripts, estimated date “third quarter of 19th Century” by Bibliothèque Nationale Française, transcribed by Louise Dubin)
  • Chopin Op. 38 Ballade
  • Chopin Op. 35 Marche Funèbre
• Mendelssohn Song without Words for Cello and Piano
• Chopin-Franchomme Mazurka Op. 33, No. 3
• Beethoven, 7 Variations on "Bei Männern, welche Liebe fuhlen" from Mozart's The Enchanted Flute

Cellists: Louise Dubin, Kathy Cherbas, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, Sarah Hewitt-Roth
Pianists: Hiroko Sasaki (9/22), Reiko Uchida (9/25), Hiroko Sasaki (9/29)

Each recital will include historical commentary between pieces: What events were occurring in the lives of Franchomme, Chopin, and their Parisian patrons when these works were published (referring to letters and other primary sources, with a focus on the poignant/amusing/tumultuous)?