| Site review by Geohominid March 2, 2010
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
"Twixt boulevard and church, portrait of an acoustic magician" runs the title of the insert notes for this SACD. A very apt summary of Francis Poulenc's career. His lively spirit, combined with cheeky and mischievous tendencies disguised a deeply sensitive nature, and these qualities appealed to audiences during his lifetime and beyond. He belonged to a group of friends known as Les Six, an avant-guard group of musicians and composers formed around 1920 and was probably most prolific of its members.
The first half of the twentieth century saw the building of many new private concert halls equipped with symphonic organs and grand pianos, particularly in France and Germany. These were frequently used for performances of new works by composers for this instrumental combination, such as Marcel Dupré, Jean Langlais and Joseph W. Clockey. An remarkable photograph of Marcel Dupré's own Music Salon is reproduced in the booklet, showing his own 5 manual organ and grand piano. Established works for piano or other instruments could also be performed, using transcriptions of the orchestral scores, which worked well on the organ because of its abilities to mimic so many instruments. In the present arrangements, a percussionist plays the parts scored for them by Poulenc.
Following this tradition, organist and Director Hansjörg Albrecht present two of Poulenc's most characteristic keyboard concertos in performances with organ and percussion replacing the orchestra. It is not entirely clear from the notes if these are new transcriptions by Albrecht himself, or those by Poulenc (he is known to have performed the works in such private venues such as that of his patroness, the Princess de Polignac). Having searched two catalogues of Poulenc's compositions, I can find no listing of organ transcriptions being extant, although the composer did provide 2-piano reductions of the scores, as was common practice. These would certainly have been a useful base for Albrecht's own versions.
The Concerto in D minor for 2 pianos FP 61 of 1932 was popular from the start, and Poulenc took it with him to England in 1945, where he played it with Benjamin Britten. Duo Tal & Groethuysen are one of the world's most expert piano duos. They give sparkling and idiomatic performances of this mostly outgoing and cheerful work in the magnificent modern concert hall of the Hochschule Für Musik in Munich. The Kuhn organ is well-stocked with stops such as Gambas, Cornets, Trumpets, Flutes, Violas, Bassoons and Oboes, and given Albrecht's colourful and appropriate registrations, one quickly forgets the absence of a full orchestra with the organ's often uncanny imitations.
The pianists never miss a trick in pointing Poulenc's witty asides, and the first movement has more than a touch of Gallic fire. In contrast, the lovely Larghetto is an oasis of calm, paying homage to Mozart with reminiscences of his Piano Concerto K537; the organ adds some wonderfully subdued and colourful support, and shimmering cymbals also underpin long singing lines shared between the soloists. The concerto's finale finds Poulenc in knock-about Burlesque mode, with tongue-in-cheek fleeting cameos of other composer's styles. The vivid percussion parts make much more of an impression than allowed in an orchestral context, with pyrotechnics which add greatly to the brilliance and sheer fun of the writing and playing.
Poulenc's Concert champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra FP 49 (1927-1928) is one of his most obvious contributions to the prevailing Neoclassical style. Written for Wanda Landowska, a Polish-French harpsichordist who was responsible for bringing back period instruments and performance practises, it called for a "revival style" harpsichord being built at the time, rather than an historic instrument. For this recording Peter Kofler plays one of these large instruments from the first half of the twentieth century, with stop pedals for changing registrations. In typical contrary fashion, Poulenc scored for a very large orchestra, including four horns, trumpets and tubas, with a large string section, thus potentially inviting disastrous balancing problems, which he resolved with deft orchestration.
With the cooperation of Albrecht's similarly considerate organ transcription, the engineers have found an excellent balance for Kofler's harpsichord in the same venue as the Concerto for two pianos. The perspective is from a good seat in the stalls, using minimum microphones to produce a truly realistic concert experience. The harpsichord is not subjected to close microphone scrutiny as on many other recordings, so its inherent character and tonal delicacy in the face of the powerful organ are fully exploited as Poulenc would have intended.
The organ sounds very Baroque in its opening dotted-rhythms typical of French overtures, and Koffler's excellent performance makes the most of the many Stravinskian references, including a sexy take-off of the rocking Russian folktune music from The Rite of Spring. The slow movement is a sweet Sicilienne where the organ from time to time shows its muscle, and the vigorous gallop of the Finale pauses briefly for more references, including Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith. There is a kaleidoscope of colours from harpsichord, organ and percussion, which makes one appreciate Wanda Landowska's assertion that she "felt completely unburdened and happy" when playing this work.
Poulenc's Concerto in G minor for organ, strings and timpani (FP 93) of 1938 has become almost iconic of the genre. In a single movement with seven parts, it overlaps Poulenc's religious and secular preoccupations in a heady mixture of majesty and energetic brilliance. Premier French organist of the time, Maurice Duruflé, developed the organ register indications for Poulenc, and was himself the first soloist.
At the organ, Albrecht is joined by the strings of Bach Collegium München and Babette Haag on the drums. He directs proceedings in the superb modern hall at Gasteig, with the electronic console of the large Klais installed at the front of the stage. This is a splendidly polished performance, full of drama, imposing climaxes, thrilling interchanges between organ and strings, with a truly dynamic tympani contribution which features much more than in most recordings. Sonically, it is superb; the performance photograph again shows the minimal microphone set-up. Thus the captured concert experience is impressively realistic, with a huge dynamic range and full response from a grateful acoustic.
Presentation is exemplary, with notes in German, English and French, very relevant illustrations and full specifications for the two organs.
This disc has given me much pleasure; performances are among the best of a number of comparisons I made, and sonically it is some way in front of most. Never once did I regret the absence of a "real" orchestra in the two piano and harpsichord concertos. Even if you already have versions of the works in your collection, I suggest you give this life-enhancing disc a listen. I have a feeling that Poulenc himself would have been very happy with it.
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Copyright © 2010 John Miller and SA-CD.net
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| Review by gonzostick April 23, 2010 (3 of 8 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
BRILLIANT! WONDERFUL! This got THREE repeat plays on my OPPO BluRay player. Incredible sonics and playing! I will not restate Geohominid's comprehensive notes above.
This is the best performance of the Poulenc Organ Concerto on SACD. Yes, the string section could be bigger, but they capture the spirit of this music as well as the notes! The Ondine one with Latry and that hack conductor, Eschenbach, in Philadephia, where the tempos are turned into Bruckner, is best avoided, though it has the best recording of the Barber Toccata Festiva and THE WORST recording of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony (Eschenbach makes the wonderful Philadelphia Orchestra play like pigs with his idiotic tempos).
In particular, since TWO recording venues are involved, the engineers have done wonders, here! Especially, in the Poulenc, the surround recording actually gives an aural impression of height! This is the most amazing microphone placement in a surround recording in a long time. One can hear the strings on stage and the pipe organ suspended above them, also the depth of the organ chamber for the enclosed pipe division on the rebuilt Klais Orgelbau instrument...
DO NOT MISS THIS...
Also, Albrecht, the organist, has to be singled out for his brilliant playing. The Poulenc Organ Concerto is NOT a technically difficult work to play, but it really requires and organist to take control of his pipe organ and make it sing...Most important, the DSD recording is stunning!
GO GET A COPY... The organ does quite well as an orchestra in the other two concerti on this disc.
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| Review by Arnaldo August 16, 2012 (6 of 15 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
Like most SACD collectors, I've purchased a number of duds. Usually I take it all in stride, being that's part of the game of discovering new titles. But I have to take exception with this organ-centric disc from Oehms Classics. While it could have been a showcase for some of Poulenc's most inventive creations, what we get instead are slapstick versions of the Harpsichord Concerto and the Concerto for 2 Pianos, both accompanied by what sounds like a giant accordion in lieu of an orchestra. I'm still traumatized after sitting through this a few times. Likewise, I can only imagine poor Poulenc turning in his grave whenever someone spins this disc.
According to Oehms, "... In the Harpsichord Concerto and the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Hansjörg Albrecht slips into the role of the orchestra, whose part he plays on the organ. He builds on the performance practices of the early 20th Century, where salon-organs were often used in private spaces for concerts in small groups and presented the avant-garde composers, an expert audience of new compositions."
Sorry guys, but that's the lamest excuse I've heard in quite a while. The simple fact is that this is all about showcasing Mr. Albretch's organ chops, with total disregard for Poulenc's exquisite orchestral colors. Even worse is the fact that they had the resources to record the original versions, being that the Organ Concerto is decently performed in its original format for organ, strings and timpani. But that's too little too late, just like the rather plain stereo sonics. Truth be told, the engineers' fatal mistake was plugging in the microphones during the recording sessions.
Meanwhile, there are good SACD alternatives for the organ concerto, such as my favorite, Poulenc: Concerto for Organ etc - Gillian Weir, or even Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 - Latry, Eschenbach. Unfortunately, not so for the other pieces. For now, I'll hold on to my old Erato CDs with James Conlon conducting the Rotterdams Philharmonic Orchestra, with Ton Koopman and Marie-Claire Alain handling the harpsichord and organ, while Jean-Philippe Coulard and Francois-Rene Duchable tackle the pianos. Early digital sound et al, they're artistically miles ahead of this musical pastiche from Mr. Albretch and Co. Frankly, as it stands, I'd give this performance a negative rating if I could.
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