Poulenc: Kammermusik für Bläser / Ensemble MidtVest – Tonträger gebraucht kaufen

wie neu

71 Min.

2012

CD

120 g

Album: NEU und EINGESCHWEISST (OVP). STILL SEALED

Francis Poulenc: Wind Sonatas; Wind Trio / Ensemble Midtvest

Release Date: 10/30/2012
Label: CPO Catalog #: 777 711 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
EAN: 0761203771127

Works on This Recording
1. Un joueur de flûte berce les ruines, Op. 114 by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: France
2. Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; France
3. Sonata for Oboe and Piano by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; France
4. Sonata for Flute and Piano by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956-1957; France
5. Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; France
6. Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1922/1945; France
7. Elégie for Horn and Piano by Francis Poulenc
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble MidtVest
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; France

Notes and Editorial Reviews
Poulenc's chamber music for wind is music that is mirthful as well as serious, entertaining and demanding, and superficial as well as profound and the ideal repertoire for the debut of an aspiring young ensemble from Denmark: the Ensemble MidtVest on cpo. Its core formation for string quartet, wind quintet, and piano promotes flexibility, variation and rich colour in the combination of instruments.

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POULENC Wind Sonatas, Wind Trio, Un joueur de flûte berce les ruines • Ens MidtVest • CPO 777 711 2 (71:03)

You could be fooled into thinking that this release contains all of Poulenc's sonatas for winds, especially as there is just enough space on this 71-minute disc to include the missing Villanelle for Pipe and Piano, as well as the lovely but very silly Sonata for Two Clarinets. I'm guessing these were only left out because of the lack of a piper or second clarinetist in the superb Danish group, Ensemble MidtVest. In their favor they do include the recently unearthed flute miniature from 1942, Un joueur de flûte berce les ruines (A Flautist Plays for Ruins), which doesn't make the complete chamber collections on Hyperion and EMI.

The playing is bright, expressive, and very polished throughout, possibly even a little too serious at times. Predictably their clear-eyed approach suits the Elegy for Horn and Piano, Poulenc's tribute to Dennis Brain and the Clarinet Sonata, dedicated to the memory of Honegger. Likewise the exquisite rendition of the Flute Sonata is all the better for not being pulled about for romantic effect. Charlotte Norholt is a stunning flutist and, in my view, she and pianist Martin Qvist Hansen surpass the classic version from Michael Debost and Jacques Fevrier on EMI. In fact all the members have stunning technique, although I wish the Oboe Sonata let rip a little more, despite the plangent tone from oboist, Peter Kirstein. There is energy and formidable skill on display for a devilishly fleet-footed performance of the Stravinsky-hued Wind Trio, but (a silly gripe, maybe) the odd bit of splashiness or wit might not have gone amiss. Placed sensibly at the end of this immaculate recital, as the most substantial but earliest work, it proves how Poulenc's voice was mature already in his 20s, just as the earlier tracks (flitting about from 1962 to the wartime and the mid '50s) show how, even at his most poignant and restless, he never loses his lightness of touch. This disc, better than most, demonstrates how Poulenc's chamber is more than charm and neoclassical homages and does often respond well to being treated seriously.

CPO's presentation is exceptional with superb notes on each work, as well as performer bios, all in German, English, French, and Danish; an example to other labels, and with bright, spacious sound to match. This doesn't topple all the other great versions of Poulenc's chamber works out there, although the classic EMI recordings with Poulenc's contemporaries are starting to feel a little dated and stiff limbed, but this makes a superb supplement to the bright and breezy Nash Ensemble on Hyperion. I can't wait for future volumes.

FANFARE: Barnaby Rayfield

Poulenc's chamber music for wind is music that is mirthful as well as serious, entertaining and demanding, and superficial as well as profound and the ideal repertoire for the debut of an aspiring young ensemble from Denmark: the Ensemble MidtVest on cpo. Its core formation for string quartet, wind quintet, and piano promotes flexibility, variation and rich colour in the combination of instruments.

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Produktinfo:

Poulenc aus Dänemark

Francis Poulenc ist vielleicht derjenige Komponist, dessen Werke dem französischen Esprit am nächsten kommen, jenem vieldeutigen Begriff, in dem sich etwas Geistvolles, Sinnliches, Ästhetisches und vor allem Französisches verbinden. Fröhlich und ernsthaft zugleich, unterhaltend, anspruchsvoll, oberflächlich und nachdenklich. So komponierte Francis Poulenc, der sich selbst, in Anspielung auf den römischen Gott, der zwei Gesichter hatte, die in unterschiedliche Richtungen blicken konnten, »Poulenc-Janus« nannte. Poulencs Musik ist oft geprägt von dieser Doppeldeutigkeit. Seine Kammermusik für Bläser ist nun das ideale Repertoire für das cpo Debut eines jungen ambitionierten Ensembles aus Dänemark: dem Ensemble MidtVest. Elf Musiker, Enthusiasten ebenso wie Individualisten, Absolventen führender Musikhochschulen Europas und Amerikas, einige von ihnen mehrfach preisgekrönt. Das Ensemble wurde 2002 gegründet und hat sich für seine kreativen Programme, das hohe künstlerische Niveau sowie die ständige Hinterfragung der konventionellen Konzertform einen guten Ruf erworben. Die Stammbesetzung mit Streichquartett, Bläserquintett und Klavier ermöglicht Flexibilität, Variation und Vielfarbigkeit in der Kombination der Instrumente. Das Ensemble MidtVest tritt als Duo ebenso auf wie als klangvolles Nonett. Es ist eines von 5 sogenannten Basisensembles in Dänemark. cpo plant noch spannende Projekte »paa dansk«.

Product Information

Poulenc from Denmark

Francis Poulenc is perhaps the composer whose works come the closest to embodying the French esprit, a multivalent term referring to a special blend of brilliance, sensuousness, aestheticism, and above all Frenchness. This is music that is mirthful as well as serious, entertaining and demanding, and superficial as well as profound. It was thus that Francis Poulenc composed, he who called himself »Poulenc-Janus« in an allusion to the Roman god who had two faces and could simultaneously look this way and that. Poulenc's music is often stamped by this ambiguity, and his chamber music for winds is the ideal repertoire for the cpo debut of an aspiring young ensemble from Denmark: the Ensemble MidtVest. This ensemble is formed by eleven musicians, enthusiasts as well as individualists, who are graduates of leading European and American musical institutions of higher learning, and some of them have repeatedly been honored with prizes. The ensemble was founded in 2002 and has earned a fine reputation for its creative programs, high artistic level, and constant questioning of the conventional concert form. Its core formation for string quartet, wind quintet, and piano promotes flexibility, variation, and rich color in the combination of instruments. The Ensemble MidtVest performs as a duo as well as a sonorous nonet. It is one of the five »basis ensembles« in Denmark, and cpo plans more exciting projects »paa dansk.«

Rezensionen

klassik-heute 09 / 12: »Ein willkommenes Konzentrat, dessen künstlerische Wiedergabe-Qualitäten die Bedeutung des Komponisten überzeugend zu aktualisieren vermögen. Kurz, in einer Anthologie wie der vorliegenden, herausfordernden 17 Tracks für die Klarinette, Kurt Martin Horn, Flöte, Oboe oder Fagott mit brillanter Assistenz des Pianisten Martin Qvist Hansen, spiegelt sich ein musikalischer Mikrokosmos höchst gelungener Ausdrucksvielfalt.«
Ensemble 12 / 12: »Jugendlicher Schwung in den lichtvoll-frechen Fakturen, ergreifendes Trauern in der Horn-Elegie auf den Tod Dennis Brains, ausgefeilte und vielfarbige Interpretationen der Bläsersonaten in makelloser Musiziertechnik kennzeichnen den hohen Rang des Ensembles – eine verdienstvolle Produktion.«

CPO 777 711A