Information
Composer: Francis Poulenc
- (01) Concerto for Piano & Orchestra, FP 146
- (04) Trio for Piano, Oboe & Bassoon, FP 43
- (07) Concert champêtre, FP 49
- (10) Sonata for Oboe & Piano, FP 185
Mark Bebbington, piano
John Robert, oboe
Jonathan Davies, bassoon
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jan Latham-Koenig, conductor
Date: 2020
Label: Resonus Classics
https://www.resonusclassics.com/
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The incomparable Mark Bebbington, to whom British music owes more than a tip of the hat, turns his attention to the French with a superb new CD of Francis Poulenc. Jan Latham-Koenig and the Royal Philharmonic are collaborators in two of the master’s five concertante pieces, and oboist John Roberts and bassoonist Jonathan Davies join Bebbington in striking performances of two chamber works.
Bebbington, Latham-Koenig and the RPO players are so focused on pointing up every expressive moment of these richly allusive concertos, the first and last Poulenc would write, that both emerge as strikingly vivid, despite their myriad subtleties. Amid the Piano Concerto’s pellucid textures, no occasion for dramatic tension is neglected. In the first movement, for instance, Bebbington skilfully shapes and colours the portentous solo chord progressions that elicit varied responses from the orchestra in such a way that you’re kept on the edge of your seat, eager to know what direction the musical discourse will take next. The wistfully tender Andante con moto makes its way with irresistible poise and directness. The Rondeau finale, alternating between tongue-in-cheek wit and ebullient high spirits, is all the more beguiling for its understatement.
Nigel Simeone’s elegant booklet notes indulge in some special pleading for the Concert champêtre – commissioned and premiered by the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska – by carefully documenting Poulenc’s own performances on piano. But if we’re to hear much of this intriguing piece in future, it will likely be on the piano, the steel-frame instruments that Pleyel created for Landowska’s revival of the harpsichord having become historical anomalies. In any case, Latham-Koenig and Bebbington bring keen sensitivities for sonority and balance to a performance that is a model of clarity and precision. Bebbington’s wholehearted embrace of the piece and his relish for Poulenc’s stylishness combine to make the score’s occasional archaising seem perfectly natural.
Expert ensemble on a more intimate level rounds out this superbly conceived programme. Roberts, Davies and Bebbington vividly capture the ferment and insouciance of inter-war Paris in the 1926 Trio, a work encouraged by Stravinsky and dedicated to Falla. But it is Roberts and Bebbington’s deeply felt reading of the Oboe Sonata, composed during the last summer of Poulenc’s life and dedicated to the memory of Prokofiev, that provides the capstone to a recording rich in sensual gratification and intellectual nourishment.
-- Patrick Rucker, Gramophone
More reviews:
ClassicsToday ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Mar/Poulenc_PC_RES10256.htm
https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-poulenc-piano-concertos-chamber-works-mark-bebbington/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/poulenc-piano-concerto-concert-champetre-trio-for-piano-oboe-bassoon-sonata-for-oboe-piano-mw0003358512
Bebbington, Latham-Koenig and the RPO players are so focused on pointing up every expressive moment of these richly allusive concertos, the first and last Poulenc would write, that both emerge as strikingly vivid, despite their myriad subtleties. Amid the Piano Concerto’s pellucid textures, no occasion for dramatic tension is neglected. In the first movement, for instance, Bebbington skilfully shapes and colours the portentous solo chord progressions that elicit varied responses from the orchestra in such a way that you’re kept on the edge of your seat, eager to know what direction the musical discourse will take next. The wistfully tender Andante con moto makes its way with irresistible poise and directness. The Rondeau finale, alternating between tongue-in-cheek wit and ebullient high spirits, is all the more beguiling for its understatement.
Nigel Simeone’s elegant booklet notes indulge in some special pleading for the Concert champêtre – commissioned and premiered by the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska – by carefully documenting Poulenc’s own performances on piano. But if we’re to hear much of this intriguing piece in future, it will likely be on the piano, the steel-frame instruments that Pleyel created for Landowska’s revival of the harpsichord having become historical anomalies. In any case, Latham-Koenig and Bebbington bring keen sensitivities for sonority and balance to a performance that is a model of clarity and precision. Bebbington’s wholehearted embrace of the piece and his relish for Poulenc’s stylishness combine to make the score’s occasional archaising seem perfectly natural.
Expert ensemble on a more intimate level rounds out this superbly conceived programme. Roberts, Davies and Bebbington vividly capture the ferment and insouciance of inter-war Paris in the 1926 Trio, a work encouraged by Stravinsky and dedicated to Falla. But it is Roberts and Bebbington’s deeply felt reading of the Oboe Sonata, composed during the last summer of Poulenc’s life and dedicated to the memory of Prokofiev, that provides the capstone to a recording rich in sensual gratification and intellectual nourishment.
-- Patrick Rucker, Gramophone
More reviews:
ClassicsToday ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Mar/Poulenc_PC_RES10256.htm
https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-poulenc-piano-concertos-chamber-works-mark-bebbington/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/poulenc-piano-concerto-concert-champetre-trio-for-piano-oboe-bassoon-sonata-for-oboe-piano-mw0003358512
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Francis Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. A member of group Les Six, Poulenc had a reputation, particularly in his native country, as a humorous, lightweight composer, and his religious music was often overlooked. During the 21st century more attention has been given to his serious works. Among his best-known compositions are Trois mouvements perpétuels (piano suite, 1919), Les biches (ballet, 1923), Concert champêtre (1928), Organ Concerto (1938), Dialogues des Carmélites (opera, 1957), and Gloria (for soprano, choir and orchestra, 1959).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc
***
Mark Bebbington (born 17 January 1972) is a British concert pianist. He studied at the Royal College of Music, and later studied in Paris and Italy with Aldo Ciccolini. Internationally recognised as a champion of British music in particular, Bebbington has recorded extensively for the SOMM label to critical acclaim. In addition to a series of five-star reviews in BBC Music Magazine, he has won Gramophone Editor's Choice and International Record Review's 'Outstanding' accolade. Bebbington has featured both as soloist and recitalist on BBC television and radio, and on major European television and radio networks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bebbington
http://markbebbington.co.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bebbington
http://markbebbington.co.uk/
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