These Poulenc Concertos have always seemed to bring out the best in musicians. I cannot think of one recording I have not enjoyed. I suppose the players appreciate their fun and insouciance. I remember being introduced to the wit and enchantment of the Concerto for Two Pianos through the 1962 EMI recording that featured Poulenc himself, together with Jacques Février, as the soloists with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted, as here, by Georges Prêtre (on EMI CZS 7626902 with Les Biches, Les Animaux modèles, and the Concert champêtre). Although the magic of that performance is not quite matched here, these are nevertheless impressive performances that beautifully handle and balance the contrasting worlds of the music hall and the cloisters evident in so much of Poulenc's glittering, sophisticated music. There is great refinement here counterbalanced by an appealing grittiness, and a very French ambience.

Gabriel Tacchino is the starred soloist in all three works. He is joined by Ringeissen in the Concerto for Two Pianos composed in 1932 (this recording was made in Monte Carlo in 1983). They blend together perfectly: Just listen to the exquisite phrasing and dynamics of the "rivulet" piano figures at the end of the first movement, for instance. And Prêtre supplies a beautifully controlled and phrased accompaniment, so that the coy beauty of the Larghetto sounds sublime. The 1966 Paris recording of the Piano Concerto (composed in 1949) is full of joie de vivre, with the haunting Andante beautifully paced and shaped. The Aubade, recorded in 1965, is an interesting bonus. It started life in 1929 as a ballet that spotlit a piano and a female dancer portraying Diana, the goddess of hunting, virginity, and the moon. The ballet concerns her desire for love and her efforts to escape her fate of eternal chastity. This early work has many pre-echoes of material that would later be sublimated in the two piano concertos and other works. Together with the composer's own recording of the Concerto for Two Pianos, these are readings to be cherished.

-- Ian Lace, FANFARE [11/2001]