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Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings and Timpani (1938)
[22:47]
Gloria (1959) [26:45]
Quatre Motets pour un temps de Pénitence (1938-39) [13:30]
Maurice Duruflé (organ),
Rosanna Carteri (soprano)
Chœurs de la R.T.F. (Gloria)
Chœurs René Duclos (motets)
Orchestre National de l’ORTF/Georges Prêtre
rec. 21, 23 February 1961, Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (Concerto),
15 February 1961 (Gloria), 29 May 1963 (motets),
Salle Wagram. ADD EMI CDC7477232 [63:39]
This
welcome Arkiv release, complete with booklet notes, has instant
classic status. Recorded in the presence of the composer,
the performances ooze Gallic joie de vivre and élan, as well
as a sometimes flamboyant disregard for accurate intonation.
This
recording of the Organ Concerto has appeared elsewhere,
and is currently available on a different EMI
Great Recordings of the Century release. Maurice Duruflé,
a great composer in his own right, was the organist who premièred
this work in 1938, with Nadia Boulanger conducting. The piece,
commissioned
by the Princess de Polignac in 1934, underwent a difficult
and extended period of gestation and revision. The end result
was something quite removed from the piece for small organ
and orchestra which was supposed to be suitable for the Princess
to play. One of my own Poulenc favourites, there are more
recent recordings and performances which eclipse this particular
version for sonics and orchestral accuracy. Marie-Claire
Alain and James Conlon on Erato are particularly effective,
and Gillian Weir on Linn Records, as well as a very good
Naxos budget version with Elisabeth Chojnaka. Comparisons
are not what this review is about however. The sheer atmosphere
of the whole event on this EMI recording is pungent with
spine-tingling vibrancy. Yes, there are plenty of out-of-tune
moments, and the strings aren’t always together, but who
cares when the sheer visceral power of the organ can give
you all the cheesy thrill of a good horror movie, or the
spread of string sound re-orientate the follicles of your
hair at numerous moments. Just take the diminuendo transitional
passage at 2:20 in track 3 – there’s more than one composer
today who might try and make an entire symphony on less.
For its age this is still a very good recording, and justifies
a permanent place in any catalogue.
Recorded
in one of Maria Callas’s favoured locations, the Salle Wagram,
the Gloria has a more acidic sound-picture and generally
swifter tempi than some more recent versions. As in the concerto,
Georges Prêtre has an acute ear for contrast, and while the
choir sounds a bit rowdy at times there are plenty of gorgeous
moments. Rosanna Carteri is an expressive and uncomplicated
soloist, presenting Poulenc’s lines without unnecessarily
imposed artifice.
The Four
Penitential Motets for a capella mixed choir
were written with the work of Renaissance artist Andrea
Mantegna in mind. The sudden and dramatic changes in the
music can no doubt be credited to the Biblical nature of
some of these paintings. Poulenc also revealed that he
was also thinking constantly of the early Spanish composer
Victoria while composing these works. Each of the motets
has a penetrating and direct way of communicating the Latin
texts, which cover the dark themes of death and the crucifixion,
and which are filled with a wide range of colour and contrast
in these performances.
These
particular recordings of the Gloria and Motets may
not be the main reason for wanting to have this disc, but
they go with the magnificent Concerto like the fruit
in a bowl painted by Cézanne. Any self-respecting fan of
Poulenc should, indeed must own this disc, and thanks to
Arkiv, they can.
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