Composer of the Week - Poulenc

[Guest]

I am a great lover of Poulenc, (although I can see that is a phrase that may be open to some misinterpretation) and in general I think Composer of the Week retains a lot of the high standards we expect from Radio 3. Well done Donald MacLeod
Having acquired an excellent album of his complete piano music by Pascal Roge I am now in the process of compiling his complete chamber music on CD. At least one Radio 3 listener is extremely happy this week.

[Roehre]

For those who think of Poulenc as a light weight: try his Violin sonata, or his elegy for horn and piano, not to forget his Gloria, his choral works (including the secular [Figure humaine e.g.]) or Dialogues des Carmélites

[amateur51]

For those who think of Poulenc as a light weight: try his Violin sonata, or his elegy for horn and piano, not to forget his Gloria, his choral works (including the secular [Figure humaine e.g.]) or Dialogues des Carmélites

[Nick Armstrong]

I am a great lover of Poulenc, (although I can see that is a phrase that may be open to some misinterpretation) and in general I think Composer of the Week retains a lot of the high standards we expect from Radio 3. Well done Donald MacLeod
Having acquired an excellent album of his complete piano music by Pascal Roge I am now in the process of compiling his complete chamber music on CD. At least one Radio 3 listener is extremely happy this week.

Delighted to be re-acquainted with the harpsichord concerto too.

[Suffolkcoastal]

There are a handful of works by Poulenc I quite like, the rest of his ouput I can happily live without I'm afraid. I remember a performance of the Elegy for Horn & Piano very well, it is one of the few works that have actually given me a headache. Poulenc is generally well served on R3 unlike the rest of Les Six.

[amateur51]

I know that m'learned friend Caliban is not as taken as I am, but could I put in a word for Poulenc's cello sonata. Founier gives a fine performance with on and there's a lovely new disc by Ann Gastinel and Claire Désert, including the Franck and Debussy sonatas as well as the Poulenc

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/w/64494 - super bargain price

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sea...ulenc+Gastinel - full price

[Simon Biazeck]

I just tuned in to the Clarinet Sonata and am reveling in the lyricism and sheer beauty of sound - that gallic wit and sunshine is most welcome! I love Ned Rorem's comment that "... he (FP) never wrote an original note, but everything he wrote was pure Poulenc" or something to that effect. I look forward to hearing the previous installments on LA, and am quite happy to be manipulated by his effortless style, particularly in the instrumental music!

[Nick Armstrong]

I just tuned in to the Clarinet Sonata and am reveling in the lyricism and sheer beauty of sound - that gallic wit and sunshine is most welcome! I love Ned Rorem's comment that "... he (FP) never wrote an original note, but everything he wrote was pure Poulenc" or something to that effect. I look forward to hearing the previous installments on LA, and am quite happy to be manipulated by his effortless style, particularly in the instrumental music!

Ditto!! I tuned in earlier, and was also struck by the beauty of the "Sept Répons des Ténèbres" which I'd never heard before despite being a bit of a Poulenc fan... Am toying with the credit card...

[Simon Biazeck]

Ditto!! I tuned in earlier, and was also struck by the beauty of the "Sept Répons des Ténèbres" which I'd never heard before despite being a bit of a Poulenc fan... Am toying with the credit card...

Ah, go on now, you know you want to! I adore the Sept Répons, and was introduced to them some years ago by a colleague involved in The Sixteen's recording. I can thoroughly recommend that! For me, they are pretty much his best religious music, and as much as I love the more well known liturgical music, (Motets, Mass etc.) almost the only time he consistently set Latin with its natural verbal accents. It's been quite a while since I heard them, so I look forward to the LA even more!

[Nick Armstrong]

Ah, go on now, you know you want to!

I know! And I did!

Plus I'd forgotten I have some download giftvouchers on my account so it was free!

Looking forward to getting to know it much better.

In my investigations, I found out that my favourite French choir, Accentus, under Laurence Equilbey (I've waxed lyrical to the point of tedium about their Fauré Requiem recording) have recorded another Poulenc work I don't know at all, La Figure Humaine (plus some other works I don't know either).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poulenc-Figure-Humaine-Accentus/dp/B00005B84K/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1339763539&sr=1-1

Any thoughts, Simon B?

[Simon Biazeck]

AH, retail therapy - how sweet! I am adjacent to it myself!

Accentus are very fine and they seem to be the only native speakers of a high standard to have recorded Figure Humaine, so I would be very tempted, and if you like them already ... I know The Sixteen's rec. of it and it is very good, but Accentus will of course have the edge with language. On a brief comparison, the Christophers rec. seems to have the edge on sound engineering whereas, Equilbey's choir seems a little diffuse and prone to distortion at high levels (they don't stand in voice part sections, but mixed up, a practice for which I don't much care!), but the voices - sop's particularly - are quite lovely. Happy e-shopping!

[ardcarp]

...and then there's Tenebrae's disc.

[Nick Armstrong]

...and then there's Tenebrae's disc.

Ah....?

EDIT: Ah....! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Figure-Humai...m_cd_album_lnk

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm happy to declare myself a passionate lover of Poulenc. The piano and organ concertos and Les Biches are obvious big hits, but the gorgeous Sinfonietta often gets overlooked, indeed underrated. Don't miss it - either the warmly idiomatic Pretre or the better-recorded Dutoit are unsurpassable.

And when you get the Gloria, don't miss the Stabat Mater, a more restrained, but still compelling masterpiece. I had to get mine 2ndhand on Amazon, but the best is Serge Baudo with the Lyon National Chorus and Orchestra on HM.

I have an earlier orchestral version of the current Decca Dutoit box, and it still looks an excellent buy, now with choral works included. Whatever you do though, try to stick to French orchestras (pace Thierry Fischer's fine Les Biches with the BBCNOW...)

Top tip: marvellous recent 24-bit download of Pretre's 1961 Gloria & Organ Concerto available at Pristine Cassical. Some of the best stereo recordings I've ever heard - of anything...

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm happy to declare myself a passionate lover of Poulenc. The piano and organ concertos and Les Biches are obvious big hits, but the gorgeous Sinfonietta often gets overlooked, indeed underrated. Don't miss it - either the warmly idiomatic Pretre or the better-recorded Dutoit are unsurpassable.

And when you get the Gloria, don't miss the Stabat Mater, a more restrained, but still compelling masterpiece. I had to get mine 2ndhand on Amazon, but the best is Serge Baudo with the Lyon National Chorus and Orchestra on HM.

I have an earlier orchestral version of the current Decca Dutoit box, and it still looks an excellent buy, now with choral works included. Whatever you do though, try to stick to French orchestras (pace Thierry Fischer's fine Les Biches with the BBCNOW...)

Top tip: marvellous recent 24-bit download of Pretre's 1961 Gloria & Organ Concerto available at Pristine Cassical. Some of the best stereo recordings I've ever heard - of anything...

I wouldn't go as far as jayne is claiming myself a passionate lover of Poulenc's music, but it would be nice sometime to hear again the ballet music "Les Animaux Modeles" - which while probably the composer at his most Ravelian, contains some of his warmest orchestral music, for me.