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Thus one might hope for specific insights here in this first recording of the Poulenc Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, recorded most probably in early 1952 (the earliest reference we can find to the recording is in a French magazine dated to September of that year). Though the orchestra may not be top notch, and the sound a little scrappy at times, there's no doubt the feeling brought to this delightful piece From an audio-restoration perpective there were specific problems to be overcome here beyond the slightly scratchy original vinyl and a rather unnatural sound balance. At times this poor balance is still evident, though far less so and not in such a way as to detract from your enjoyment of the music. Once again, the careful application of the XR remastering process has proved highly successful in rescuing a moment in musical history from near-oblivion.
Francis Poulenc biographical notes from Wikipedia
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (January 7, 1899–January 30, 1963) was a French composer and a member of the French group Les Six. He composed music in all major genres, including art song, chamber music, oratorio, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music. Critic Claude Rostand, in a July 1950 Paris-Presse article, described Poulenc as "half bad boy, half monk" ("le moine et le voyou"), a tag that was to be attached to his name for the rest of his career.
Biography Early life Poulenc was born in Paris. His mother, an amateur pianist, taught him to play, and music formed a part of family life. As he was a capable pianist, the keyboard dominated much of his early compositions. He also, throughout his career, borrowed from his own compositions as well as those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Camille Saint-Saëns. Later in his life, the loss of some close friends, coupled with a pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour, led him to rediscovery of the Catholic faith and resulted in compositions of a more sombre, austere tone. Career Poulenc was a member of Les Six, a group of young French composers, Milhaud, Auric, Durey, Honegger and Tailleferre, who also had links with Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau. He embraced the Dada movement's techniques, creating melodies that would have challenged what was considered appropriate for Parisian music halls. He was already identified with this group before he undertook his first formal musical training, with Charles Koechlin in 1921. Poulenc was a featured pianist in several recordings, including some of his songs (with Pierre Bernac) and the concerto for two pianos. His recordings were released by RCA Victor and EMI. Among Poulenc's last series of major works is a series of works for wind instruments and piano. He was particularly fond of woodwinds, and planned a set of sonatas for all of them, yet only lived to complete four: sonatas for flute, oboe, clarinet, and the Elégie for horn. Poulenc died of heart failure in Paris in 1963.
Personal life Poulenc was one of the first openly gay composers. His first serious relationship was with painter Richard Chanlaire to whom he dedicated his Concert champêtre: "You have changed my life, you are the sunshine of my thirty years, a reason for living and working." He also once said, "You know that I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality." Poulenc also had a number of relationships with women. He fathered a daughter, Marie-Ange, although he never formally admitted that he was indeed her father. He was also a very close friend of the singer Pierre Bernac for whom he wrote many songs; some sourceshave hinted that this long friendship had sexual undertones; however, the now-published correspondence between the two men strongly suggests that this was not the case. Poulenc was profoundly affected by the death of friends. First came the death of the young woman he had hoped to marry, Raymonde Linossier. While Poulenc admitted to having no sexual interest in Linossier, they had been lifelong friends. Then, in 1923 he was "unable to do anything" for two days after the death from typhoid fever of his twenty year old friend, novelist Raymond Radiguet. However, two weeks later he had moved on, joking to Sergei Diaghilev at the rehearsals he was unable to leave, about helping a dancer "warm up". In 1936, Poulenc was profoundly affected by the death of another composer, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, who was decapitated in an automobile accident in Hungary. This led him to his first visit to the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour. Here, before the statue of the Madonna with a young child on her lap, Poulenc experienced a life-changing transformation. Thereafter his work took on more religious themes, beginning with the Litanies à la vierge noire (1936). In 1949, Poulenc experienced the death of another friend, the artist Christian Bérard, for whom he composed his Stabat Mater (1950). Other sacred works from this period include the Mass in G (1937), Gloria (1959), and Sept répons des ténèbres (1961–2).
Works Stage
Orchestral
Concertante
Vocal/Choral Orchestral
Chamber/Instrumental
Piano
Choral
Vocal
Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc
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