Poulenc: Piano Concertos, Aubade

Louis Lortie,Hélène Mercier

Poulenc: Piano Concertos, Aubade
Format
Audio
Publisher
Country
Published
18 September 2015
ISBN
0095115187524

Poulenc: Piano Concertos, Aubade

Louis Lortie,Hélène Mercier

After a successful cycle of Chopin works for solo piano, exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie plays here works by Poulenc with his duet partner Hélène Mercier. In Aubade and the two concertos they are joined by Edward Gardner and the BBC Philharmonic.

The French-Canadian pianists draw a persuasive portrait of the melancholic Parisian that Poulenc was: playful and depressed, like his tutor, Erik Satie. There is always a sense of palpable anxiety in these pieces, be it the sarcastic joie de vivre of the ‘choreographic concerto’ Aubade or the ironic melancholy of the explosive Concerto for Two Pianos - Mozartean and Stravinskyan at the same time. Further examples are the contrasting pair of works for two pianos, in which the evocation of the sound of accordion and smell of fried potatoes in L'Embarquement pour Cythère complement the Élégie which, as Poulenc indicated, should be played with ‘a cigar in your mouth and a glass of cognac on the piano’.

Similarly, the dazzling and dissonant Sonata for Piano Duet alternates between passages of charme and others that are féroce and strident. ‘Inventing his own folk tunes’, as Ravel noted, Poulenc took a decisive step in his musical emancipation with this very ‘dissident’ work.

Louis Lortie also plays the Piano Concerto, in which the traditional concerto virtues are more obvious: memorable tunes, sparkling orchestration, and a wide range of textures in the piano part.

Review

Unlike any other, French pianist and composer Francis Poulenc possessed the ability to seamlessly weave both farce and sincerity into a single piece of music. As a member of the group of composers known as Les Six, Poulenc was greatly influenced by Satie, and many of his songs – composed for his duo partner, baritone Pierre Bernac – reveal a certain Satien irreverence. His mature piano works, however, many of which appear on this recording by pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier, and the BBC Philharmonic, expose Poulenc’s darker, more serious side.

The Aubade, sub-titled ‘Concerto chorégraphique’ (1929), one of the earlier works presented here, is telling of Poulenc’s then-depressed state. Angular intervals and aggressive rhythms give way to brief moments of tenderness, as Poulenc musically depicts the love-struck huntress Diana. Lortie and Mercier join forces for the final Élégie (1959), composed in memory of singer and pianist Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Poulenc’s dear friend and colleague. Poulenc’s grief is clear, but not overt: the opening bars of a sweet, gently oscillating melody are eventually drowned out by dissonant cabaret-like chords. Led by conductor Edward Gardiner, Lortie and Mercier assert themselves as supreme interpreters of this repertoire, and remind us of Poulenc’s genius.


Alexandra Mathew

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