Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel & Francaix: Piano Concertos

“Debussy's unjustly-dismissed Fantasie and Francaix's pithy Concertino are the highlights of this programme, superbly interpreted by Florian Uhlig.” --BBC Music Magazine, August 2013 ****

“What an enticing programme this is...Uhlig proves a compelling advocate and the winds of the accompanying orchestra seem to gain in confidence as the work progresses...The über-compact Françaix Concertino is perhaps the highlight here, Uhlig and the orchestra vibrantly capturing the work's myriad moods, culminating in a rip-roaring finale.” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2013

A great program featuring the largely neglected piano concertos from some famous composers active in France between 1890 and 1951. Debussy's "Fantaisie" was created in a period of change, exploring how the piano could become a voice in the orchestra.

After an altercation with the work NOT being played at its scheduled 1890 premiere, the Fantasie had to wait until after Debussy's death for its first performance and is seldom heard in the concert hall today.

The contrast with the late romantic Debussy work, Ravel is represented with the bright, humorous G Major Concerto. Poulenc's Piano Concerto is a jewel of sounds and colors, yet still stands in the shadow of his Concerto for Two Pianos. Finally, there is Jean Françaix’s Concertino, composed for a short, witty ten-minute film. Charm and wit, and all the corresponding range of moods are at Florian Uhlig’s command; the result is an entertaining and musically ravishing CD.

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Poulenc: Concertos for Keyboard Instruments

My music is my self-portrait,” said Francis Poulenc of his works. The composer’s personality was as brilliant as his music, which always contains something surprising, a change of level, a contrast between the “great” and the banal and between tradition and the avantgarde. Hansjörg Albrecht presents three concertos for keyboard instruments on his new CD of organ music; he himself takes the solo part in the concerto for organ, strings and timpani.

In the harpsichord concerto and the concerto for two pianos and orchestra, he takes on the role of the orchestra, whose part he plays on the organ. With this, he harks back to performance practices typical of the early 20th century, particularly in France and the USA, where “salon organs” were often used in private salons for small concerts, and avant-garde composers presented their new works to an audience of connoisseurs.

The value of this recording is also enhanced by the two soloists in the double piano concerto, the piano duo consisting of Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen, who have been counted among the world’s leading piano duos for many years.

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French Ballet Music of the 1920s

“The zany exuberance of Les mariés, concocted by five of Les Six in the 1920s, is infectiously captured in this colourful reissue, as is L'éventail, a contemporaneous ten-composer collaboration.” --BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 ****

…these pieces are full of imagination and fun. Geoffrey Simon and the Philharmonia Orchestra give a very good account of themselves and the Chandos recording is little short of spectacular. --The Penguin Complete Guide to Compact Discs

Penguin Guide Rosette Winner

I listened to these two on-act pastiche ballets on a broiling hot, humid June night when it was 84 degrees in my living room and said, ‘who needs air conditioning! This is better than AC!’… What gorgeous playing and sound in All saints’ Church Tooting (a suburb of London). --American Record Guide

The zany exuberance of ‘Les mariés’ concocted by five of Les Six in the 1920s, is infectiously captured in this colourful reissued, as is ‘L’eventail’, a contemporaneous ten-composer collaboration. --BBC Music Magazine

All this music, Gallic in its unsentimental clarity, demands the cleanest and crispest playing, and this the Philharmonia Orchestra admirably supplies. --Gramophone

The performances under Geoffrey Simon are excellent. They deserve nothing but praise. --New York Times

The sessions evidently secured the right zippy response from the Philharmonia while also providing interestingly colourful sound quality. --Which Compact Disc

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