Document

  1990
    July 1990
        Orchestral
                Poulenc Concertos. Gloria.

Poulenc Concerto for organ, strings and percussion in G minor^a. Concert champetre for harpsichord and orchestra^b. Gloria^c. George Malcolm (^a org/^b hpd); ^ab Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Iona Brown; ^c Sylvia Greenberg (sop); ^c Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus; ^c Suisse Romande Chorus and Orchestra / Jesus Lopez-Cobos.

Decca Enterprise (Mid price) (CD) 425 627-2DM (73 minutes: ADD/DDD). Items marked ^a and ^b from Argo ZRG878 (7/79), ^c Argo ZDRL1010 (1/83).

Gloria—selected comparison:

Burrowes, CBSO and Chorus, Fremaux (1/89) CDM7 69644-2

Poulenc's Organ Concerto was written in 1938, not long after the death of a close friend in a car accident brought the composer back to the Catholicism of his youth. This is a performance that brings out its dark devotional fervour—a quality more Spanish than French (though I do not forget Racine and the Jansenistes) and which El Greco and, later, Goya understood; a tension of mind and heart that is Inquisitional in its ruthless quest for truth, whatever the pain of the process. Didn't the composer say to his friends something like, 'it's a Poulenc you don't know'? The Concerto has also rightly been called Janus-like, looking both ways and taking us from terror to the fairground and back again. George Malcolm is a fine soloist here and the recording from 1977 (made in St John's, Cambridge) balances him and the orchestra with success. The Concert champetre has the same good soloist and the ASMF under Iona Brown, but a different mood, being crisp, elegant and witty. It's an earlier piece and reminds us how much Poulenc owed to 1920s Stravinsky. The balance is very natural although some people might prefer the harpsichord to be a little more forward.

The Gloria of 1959 is openly religious music in a way the Organ Concerto is not, but here the mood is of joy, forgiveness and sweetness, and with another stylish performance (this time from Geneva) this is a delightful and well-filled disc, and at medium price is especially recommendable. Those interested who don't already know the Gloria are invited to be captivated on track 12 by the bouncy "Laudamus te", or on tracks 13 and 15 by the writing for the soprano soloist, here the warm-toned Sylvia Greenberg. The text is provided.

The alternative account of the Gloria on EMI (which also gives the text) offers a vivid performance and a radiant soprano in Norma Burrowes as well as effective mid-1970s recording. The coupling of the Piano Concerto and the ballet suite Les biches (both delightful music) may decide your choice between these two attractive CDs, but no one should be disappointed with this new issue.

CH



		Poulenc's Organ Concerto was written in 1938, not long after the death of a close friend in a car accident brought the composer back to the Catholicism of his youth. This is a performance that brings out its dark devotional fervour—a quality more Spanish than French (though I do not forget Racine and the Jansenistes) and which El Greco and, later, Goya understood; a tension of mind and heart that is Inquisitional in its ruthless quest for truth, whatever the pain of the process. Didn't the composer say to his friends something like, 'it's a Poulenc you don't know'? The Concerto has also rightly been called Janus-like, looking both ways and taking us from terror to the fairground and back again. George Malcolm is a fine soloist here and the recording from 1977 (made in St John's, Cambridge) balances him and the orchestra with success. The Concert champetre has the same good soloist and the ASMF under Iona Brown, but a different mood, being crisp, elegant and witty. It's an earlier piece and reminds us how much Poulenc owed to 1920s Stravinsky. The balance is very natural although some people might prefer the harpsichord to be a little more forward.



		The Gloria of 1959 is openly religious music in a way the Organ Concerto is not, but here the mood is of joy, forgiveness and sweetness, and with another stylish performance (this time from Geneva) this is a delightful and well-filled disc, and at medium price is especially recommendable. Those interested who don't already know the Gloria are invited to be captivated on track 12 by the bouncy "Laudamus te", or on tracks 13 and 15 by the writing for the soprano soloist, here the warm-toned Sylvia Greenberg. The text is provided.



		The alternative account of the Gloria on EMI (which also gives the text) offers a vivid performance and a radiant soprano in Norma Burrowes as well as effective mid-1970s recording. The coupling of the Piano Concerto and the ballet suite Les biches (both delightful music) may decide your choice between these two attractive CDs, but no one should be disappointed with this new issue.