Covers + lossless, Not my Rip
A man ‘in love with life, mischievous, good-hearted, tender and pert, sad and serenely mystical, at once a monk and playboy’ was how Stéphane Audel remembered his friend Poulenc. A patchwork quilt of unforgettable ideas, alternately humorous and hallowed, elegantly crafted and exquisitely coloured, the three works on this new release are enduring testimonies to his ‘wildly eclectic’ art. Ghosts of the past, parodies of friends and contemporaries, lurk tantalisingly among their pages: Rachmaninov, Mahler, Copland in the Piano Concerto (1949); Balinese gamelan and Mozart in the divertissement Double Concerto (1932), described in the booklet notes as ‘a typical cocktail of all that seemed gay and good to Poulenc at the time’; Bach, Tchaikovsky (the Pathétique) in the rightly famous Organ Concerto (1939). Throughout, unmistakably, strolls the master ‘in that lazy way peculiar to him’ (Audel).
These are brilliant performances. No one understands the language or structure of this music better than Dutoit, and his three soloists are magnificent. Rogé and Deferne are on just the right side of brittleness, and Hurford’s sense of theatre and timing is compelling. The Philharmonia, tight in ensemble and rhythmically athletic, are in a class of their own. Demonstration quality sound, not least in the Organ Concerto (recorded in St Alban’s Cathedral).
Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out or 5)
-- Ates Orga, BBC Music Magazine
1. Concerto for Piano by Francis Poulenc
Performer: Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra/Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; France
Date of Recording: 02/1992
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 19 Minutes 21 Secs.
2. Concerto for 2 Pianos in D minor by Francis Poulenc
Performer: Pascal Rogé (Piano), Sylviane Deferne (Piano)
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra/Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932; France
Date of Recording: 02/1992
Venue: Walthamstow Town Hall, London, England
Length: 18 Minutes 21 Secs.
3. Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor by Francis Poulenc
Performer: Peter Hurford (Organ)
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra/Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; France
Date of Recording: 02/1992
Venue: St. Albans Cathedral, London, England
Length: 22 Minutes 4 Secs.
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