This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
Readers of Gramophone need no reminding that Pascal Roge is an excellent Poulenc pianist, whose playing has a fetching gamin charm as well as the equally necessary qualities of tenderness, refinement and sophistication. The first of these characteristics is rightly in evidence in the bouncy Humoresque (written for Walter Gieseking) that begins the present recital, but as so often with Poulenc there is a wistful warmth in this music as well to which Roge does full justice. His pedalling is idiomatic, too, in its richness. At the same time there is no lack of clarity in his realization of the composer's often elaborate textures, while rubato is unfailingly of the right, natural kind. Indeed, I regard his playing of, say, the first of the
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Nocturnes as a model of style in the way he brings the flowing freshness of the start gradually around to the deeply poignant feeling of the close. All these pieces are well done, and the epilogue-like last one perfectly, though the nostalgic Bal fantome (No. 4 in this set) is at nearer crotchet=66 than the marked 96. The Presto misterioso (No. 5) is also slower than the composer's admittedly unrealistic demand of minim=112.
The Theme varie, another attractive work, is stylishly played, though I must confess to finding the theme itself too elusive to make its presence felt throughout. Although the 15 Improvisations are hardly a cycle, having been composed between 1932 and 1959, it would be nice to have all of them on one disc rather than just this selection of six—but this is because Roge recorded the others on his earlier, Gramophone Award-winning Poulenc disc ((CD) 417 438-2DH, 7/87), which hopefully a collector will also possess.
This is a distinguished Poulenc recital (the rustic Villageoises are charming too) and the recording, produced by Paul Myers in the Salle Wagram in Paris, is excellent, with the right degree of reverberation.
-- Christopher Headington, Gramophone [4/1991]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Nocturnes (8) for Piano by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1929-1938; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
Length: 9 Minutes 31 Secs.
2.
Suite for Piano in C major by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920/1926; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
Length: 5 Minutes 27 Secs.
3.
Villageoises by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
Length: 4 Minutes 41 Secs.
4.
Presto for Piano in B flat major by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
Length: 1 Minutes 49 Secs.
5.
Improvisations (10) for Piano, FP 63: no 4 in A flat major by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
6.
Intermezzi (3) for Piano: no 1 in C major by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
Length: 4 Minutes 24 Secs.
7.
Improvisations (10) for Piano, FP 63: no 5 in A minor by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
8.
Improvisations (10) for Piano, FP 63: no 9 in D major by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
9.
Improvisations (2) for Piano, FP 170: no 2 in D flat major [no 14] by Francis Poulenc
Performer:
Pascal Rogé (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1958; France
Date of Recording: 06/1989
Venue: Salle Wagram, Paris
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