Francis Poulenc

Started by Boris_G, July 16, 2007, 12:01:59 PM

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Quote from: orfeo on September 11, 2012, 04:36:53 AM
Ack. Everyone stop telling me how wonderful the Naxos chamber music is when I'm about to buy the Roge piano/chamber box set!

Don't own the Roge, but Naxos' Poulenc chamber series is an essential acquisition IMHO for all Poulenc fans.

Madiel

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 11, 2012, 05:01:57 AM
Just depends if you want more piano or chamber music. I think the Roge only has one chamber disc.

Closer to two.  One of the discs has 2-piano music plus a couple of chamber, then last disc is all chamber.

Works common to both sets: Sextet, oboe sonata, trio for oboe/bassoon/piano, flute sonata, violin sonata, clarinet sonata, sonata for 2 pianos, sonata for piano 4 hands, Capriccio (d'après Le Bal masqué) for 2 pianos, L'Embarquement pour Cythère for 2 pianos, Elegie for 2 pianos, elegy for horn.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: orfeo on September 11, 2012, 05:13:56 AM
Closer to two.  One of the discs has 2-piano music plus a couple of chamber, then last disc is all chamber.

Works common to both sets: Sextet, oboe sonata, trio for oboe/bassoon/piano, flute sonata, violin sonata, clarinet sonata, sonata for 2 pianos, sonata for piano 4 hands, Capriccio (d'après Le Bal masqué) for 2 pianos, L'Embarquement pour Cythère for 2 pianos, Elegie for 2 pianos, elegy for horn.

Majority of his best chamber work is listed there.

bhodges

Quote from: orfeo on September 11, 2012, 04:36:53 AM
Ack. Everyone stop telling me how wonderful the Naxos chamber music is when I'm about to buy the Roge piano/chamber box set!

Rogé is marvelous - don't hesitate. (I have not heard any in the Naxos series.)

--Bruce

lescamil





http://www.amazon.com/Poulenc-Complete-Works-2-Pianos/dp/B0000016J9/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347370977&sr=8-3

Don't let the pale expression of these two pianists on the cover fool you. These performances are anything but pale and lifeless. This CD contains perhaps the best and most exciting recording of the concerto for two pianos, and the other works for two pianos are played incredibly well, also. I find myself going back to this disk quite often, as far as Poulenc's music goes.
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The new erato

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20 CDs. They call it "Complete works".

North Star

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

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TheGSMoeller

Quote from: sanantonio on September 13, 2012, 05:11:30 AM
It looks like a good box for someone new to Poulenc, or who doesn't have many of these recordings already.  I love Poulenc and have all of his music in various recordings, so it is not for me.  I wonder when it will show up in the US.

This, though, might tempt me:



Here is some info on the London Conchord Ensemble

Looks like an interesting 2fer. Thanks for the post.

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: sanantonio on September 13, 2012, 05:23:58 AM
I found it on MOG and am listening right now.  So far, it sounds like a good set.

I have the Naxos chamber set and the Ensemble-Wein Berlin with James Levine on DG single disc of chamber (which I absolutely love) but am so enamored by Poulenc's chamber output that I'm always open for more interpretations.

Hattoff

I will get the new EMI comlete edition when the price comes down but it hardly seems possible that the complete works can be recorded on only 20 CDs. I estimate that there should be at least another ten CDS. What's missing?

snyprrr

Piano Concerto

Concerto for 2 Pianos

Poulenc isn't as 'smooth' as I thought: he has a few jagged edges, and always seems to be upsetting the apple cart, throwing little things in willy-nilly. But of course, there are moments of pure, beautiful lyricism too.

The PC starts off with what I must imagine is some Mozartean melody. Is that right, or is it someone else? Then there is that wonderful falling melody in the C2P. I don't think you will find these kinds of melodies in the other Frenchmen: they seem wholly French, but also wholly Poulenc (or Satie?).

Gamelan textures also inform the C2P, lending a very genial atmosphere.

Poulenc seems to want to start his musics off with quite a whack, only to settle into a more cosmopolitan rhythm. Has anyone noticed this?

I also wish this set (Double Decca) had the Aubade, but,...

Mirror Image

If you like Poulenc as much as I do, you may want to look into these two box sets:



I find that Poulenc's music is a refreshing blend of playfulness, whimsy, humor, but with a deep emotional core that makes these afore mentioned qualities seem almost surreal. Love the Concerto for Two Pianos by the way. Gorgeous work.

snyprrr

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 06, 2013, 07:31:28 AM
If you like Poulenc as much as I do, you may want to look into these two box sets:



I find that Poulenc's music is a refreshing blend of playfulness, whimsy, humor, but with a deep emotional core that makes these afore mentioned qualities seem almost surreal. Love the Concerto for Two Pianos by the way. Gorgeous work.

I find myself wanting...

Madiel

I'm listening to the Sonata for 2 pianos right now.

It's amazing to me how much more depth there seems to be in Poulenc's later works compared to earlier ones, at least in the piano compositions (It's Pascal Roge's box set that I'm listening to). I think Poulenc himself said something against his earlier piano miniatures.

The early works are very nice and have lots of wit and sparkle, but to me there's a lot more power in the later ones.

I'm looking forward to hearing the chamber music in this box, as it's mostly later works - the violin, flute, oboe and clarinet sonatas and the Elegie horn and piano are all in there.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

lescamil

I recently played the Poulenc Sonata for Two Pianos, and it has some of his most interesting music, in my opinion. The evocation of gamelan that one can faintly detect in the Concerto for Two Pianos is taken a step further. The dissonances heighten the sense that we are listening to something that is truly non-Western. It has an exotic quality to it that reminds me a bit of Szymanowski, particularly in his more impressionistic-aimed works, like the Métopes or Symphony No. 3. You still get that carefree Les Six sound, but it is tempered by all of the previously mentioned qualities.
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mjwal

Quote from: sanantonio on April 06, 2013, 05:56:01 PM
MI has suggested to very good box sets.  Poulenc is one of the most underrated composers, IMO.  I tend to listen to his chamber music more but a work like Aubade for piano and chamber orchestra is fantastic, as is Les Biches, the music from the ballet.  His woodwind sonatas are some of the best, and I often listen to his clarinet works coupled with the late Brahms clarinet works for a nice contrast. 

His sacred music is another area where his genius shines through.  His faith was an important aspect of his persona and his Gloria as well as the other works are necessary to get a full picture of this composer.

He was an accomplished pianist and you can find recordings with him playing his own music, e.g. I remember an album of his songs with him as pianist. -

- As to his own recordings, there are several CDs of mélodies with the inimitable Pierre Bernac and a great RAI recording made in 1953 with Pierre Fournier and others playing his own compositions (including the Aubade and Cello Sonata)and some by Schumann, Debussy and Stravinsky.
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

Madiel

To my enthusiasm for the Sonata for 2 Pianos, I'm going to now add some enthusiasm for the Violin Sonata.

The more I listen to Poulenc, the more I get the impression of a composer who really hit his stride in the second half of his career.  Which makes me excited because the works I've yet to listen to in this Roge box include the flute, oboe and clarinet sonatas.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

North Star

Quote from: orfeo on September 24, 2013, 08:02:52 AM
To my enthusiasm for the Sonata for 2 Pianos, I'm going to now add some enthusiasm for the Violin Sonata.

The more I listen to Poulenc, the more I get the impression of a composer who really hit his stride in the second half of his career.  Which makes me excited because the works I've yet to listen to in this Roge box include the flute, oboe and clarinet sonatas.
Do you know those three from before? Some fantastic pieces! My favourites from the chamber works - along with the Cello Sonata - by a rather large margin.
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Madiel

Quote from: North Star on September 24, 2013, 08:19:32 AM
Do you know those three from before? Some fantastic pieces! My favourites from the chamber works - along with the Cello Sonata - by a rather large margin.

No, I've never heard any of them before, unless you count about 10 seconds per track when I first got the CDs to check that everything was in working order.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

North Star

Quote from: orfeo on September 24, 2013, 04:46:39 PM
No, I've never heard any of them before, unless you count about 10 seconds per track when I first got the CDs to check that everything was in working order.
Oh great, you're in for a treat!
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

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