Malcolm Martineau - The Complete Songs of Poulenc, Vol. 4 (2013) [Hi-Res]

Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This is the fourth release in our series that will build to encompass the complete songs of Francis Poulenc – performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau.

The performances are up to the high standard set in the earlier volumes by Martineau and his well-chosen group of singers. This time Polish soprano Magdalena Molendowska joins the team for a fine performance of the Polish songs, the group of songs written not only in homage to Chopin but almost sounding as though they could have been written by Chopin. Duth baritone Oliemans sings the animal songs and the six village songs, Fox sings the Jacob songs, and ainsley sings the Eluard songs. Their feeling for the texts plus their finely honed gifts of tonal production and dynamic control allow these songs to glow. If you’re looking for a good sampling of songs from Pouenc’s whole life, hese 41 songs will prove enirely satisfying.“ (Robert A Moore, American Record Guide)

Anybody who is already collecting this series will not need any recommendation from me, but this is a really interesting release, including, as it does a number of rarely heard works, all of them in stylish and persuasive performances. The sound is good throughout. This is surely an essential purchase for serious Poulenc collectors. (Nigel Simeone, International Record Review)

John Mark Ainsley, tenor
William Dazeley, baritone
Sarah Fox, soprano
Magdalena Molendowska, soprano
Ann Murray, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Oliemans, baritone
Malcolm Martineau, piano