REVIEW: POULENC CHORAL MUSIC
posted by James Reel
A review I wrote for Fanfare:
POULENC Chansons françaises; Chanson à boire; 7 Chansons; Petites voix; Un Soir de neige; Figure humaine • Jörg Straube, cond; N German Figuralchor • MDG 947 1595-6 (SACD: 65:19 )
Put aside your preconceptions about Germans performing French music, for this is a very fine survey from North Germany of all of Francis Poulenc’s a cappella secular choral works. (Of course, because this collection ignores the sacred works, Poulenc’s greatest choral hits must be sought elsewhere.) The booklet photo shows this group, founded in 1981 by its present conductor, Jörg Straube, to consist of approcimately 40 members, which is about the maximum for this music; more voices could overwhelm the light textures and clear part-writing, which periodically blends into lush harmonies. The very clear surround recording does not quite expose individual voices, but gives the impression of a highly unified chamber choir, singing with both sensitivity and gusto.
The selections range from the witty little Chanson à boire (Drinking Song) of 1922 through the childhood scenes of Petites voix (Little Voices, 1936, sung here by adult women rather than children) and very sensitive settings of Paul Éluard poem in the Sept Chansons of 1936, to the masterly Figure humaine of 1945, a 19-minute cantata of wartime resistance again using Éluard texts. In general, Poulenc’s choral writing here may be less seductive than in his more voluptuous religious works, but it is entirely characteristic of this composer, a man who was hardly the trivial boulevardier his lighthearted instrumental pieces have led some people to believe. James Reel
