Poulenc: Stabat Mater, Piano Concerto & Organ Concerto

CD: Poulenc: Stabat Mater, Piano Concerto & Organ Concerto

Poulenc
Piano Concerto in C sharp minor
Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor
Stabat Mater

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor
Alexandre Tharaud piano
James O’Donnell organ
Kate Royal soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra and  Choir

Francis Poulenc was a man of contradictins; on one hand the quintessential cosmopolitan Parisian, on the other a man with a deep-rooted spirituality. In his Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani Poulenc epitomises this duality, alternating between moments of high stakes drama, thoughtful tranquility and light-hearted melodies; between sacred and irreverent. Likewise the Stabat Mater, written in memory of a close friend, embraces both the light and dark; solemn, grounded in Poulenc’s devout Catholicism, and yet peppered with animated contrasting passages and even occasional levity. First though is his Piano Concerto – moving between lush sentimentalism and exuberance, it is an affectionate musical postcard from Paris for a post-war American audience.

The Organ Concerto was recorded during the Pull Out All The Stops festival launching the refurbished Royal Festival Hall organ.

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