Poulenc: Works for Piano Solo and Duo
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FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Works for Piano Solo and Duo
Alessio Bax & Lucille Chung (pianos)
[ Signum / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 20 May 2016
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Poulenc was a skilled pianist, cultivating a style of playing characterised by colorfulness and clarity, possessing an ear for melody that distinguished him as France's finest song composer since Fauré.
Canadian pianist Lucille Chung - acclaimed for her "stylish and refined performances" by Gramophone magazine, "combining vigor and suppleness with natural eloquence and elegance" - appears as a soloist on this new recording, performing Poulenc's Improvisations and Novelettes before being joined by her duo partner (and husband) Alessio Bax for L'embarquement pour Cythere, the Sonata for Four Hands and Concerto for Two Pianos.
"The first six of Poulenc's Improvisations, which date from 1932, manage to combine tautness and clarity with bursts of pure rhapsody. Chung's articulation is beyond reproach - just sample the jewelled loveliness of No. 2 - and her judicious pedal work ensures the music is more about flow than flood. The collection ends with Poulenc's 1932 reduction of his Concerto for two pianos. It's a work that seems to encapsulate what we've heard thus far; feisty, winsome and frankly irresistible I doubt you'll hear a more charismatic or rhythmically adept performance than this. As ever, Chung and Bax cleave and interleave as only true partners can. Chung is fluent in the solos and fiery in the duos; a sonic treat, too." Recording of the Month MusicWeb June 2016)
Tracks:
1. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 1 in B minor Francis Poulenc 1.35
2. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 2 in A-Flat Major Francis Poulenc 1.37
3. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 3 in B minor Francis Poulenc 1.36
4. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 4 in A-Flat Major Francis Poulenc 1.30
5. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 5 in A Minor Francis Poulenc 1.45
6. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 6 in B-Flat Major Francis Poulenc 1.35
7. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 7 in C Major Francis Poulenc 2.44
8. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 8 in A Minor Francis Poulenc 1.36
9. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 9 in D Major Francis Poulenc 1.29
10. 15 Improvisations, FP 63: No. 10 in F Major, "Eloge des gammes" Francis Poulenc 2.11
11. 15 Improvisations, FP 113: No. 11 in G Minor Francis Poulenc 0.51
12. 15 Improvisations, FP 113: No. 12 in E-Flat Major, "Hommage à Schubert" Francis Poulenc 2.10
13. 15 Improvisations, FP 170: No. 13 in A Minor Francis Poulenc 2.23
14. 15 Improvisations, FP 170: No. 14 in D-Flat Major Francis Poulenc 1.28
15. 15 Improvisations, FP 176: No. 15 in C Minor, "Hommage à Edith Piaf" Francis Poulenc 3.23
16. Three Novelettes, FP 47: Novelette in C Major Francis Poulenc 2.43
17. Three Novelettes, FP 47: Novelette in B-Flat Minor Francis Poulenc 2.01
18. Three Novelettes, FP 173: Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla Francis Poulenc 2.40
19. Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: I. Prelude Francis Poulenc 2.01
20. Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: II. Rustique Francis Poulenc 1.48
21. Sonata for Four Hands, FP 8: III. Final Francis Poulenc 1.58
22. L'embarquement pour Cythère FP 150 Francis Poulenc 2.16
23. Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: I. Allegro ma non troppo Francis Poulenc 7.31
24. Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: II. Larghetto Francis Poulenc 5.24
25. Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, FP 61: III. Finale Francis Poulenc 5.55
