Indeed, this version of the Poulenc Gloria made me fall in love with this gorgeous piece again ... it’s happened several times! Shaw has an unerring feel for tempo, everything is in its place, and he avoids too much self-indulgence in the admittedly intensely sensuous slower sections. Sylvia McNair is an ideal soloist, secure in intonation, silvery-pure in tone.

The great advantage in Shaw’s approach is that the stylistic link from the Stravinsky of 1930 to the Poulenc of thirty years later is felt strongly, though of course the fundamental aesthetic of the two men was, in truth, miles apart. I still cherish the Bernstein interpretation from the 1970s, yet the recorded sound is so much better here that I have to say that this version is preferable – though I hasten to add that one cannot reckon without Stravinsky’s own recordings.

Between the two choral pieces comes a very fine reading of the Poulenc Organ Concerto, perhaps the composer’s most characteristic masterpiece. Though I think I discern (reading between the confusing lines of the recording details) that this is an artificial recording – i.e. with organ and orchestra in different buildings – it nevertheless works very well, though there may be listeners who will find Shaw’s tempi for some of the more expressive sections a little too slow. Michael Murray is a commanding organ soloist.

-- Gwyn Parry-Jones, MusicWeb International