Allen barNash Ensemble Th - Poulenc Le Bal Masque Sextet in C Trio Le Bestiaire (18 tracks) +Album Reviews

Search - Allen: bar/Nash Ensemble, Th :: Poulenc: Le Bal Masque; Sextet in C; Trio; Le Bestiaire

Allen: bar/Nash Ensemble, Th
Poulenc: Le Bal Masque; Sextet in C; Trio; Le Bestiaire
Genres: Pop, Classical

Track Listings (18) - Disc #1
1. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: Préambule et Air de bravoure
2. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: Intermède
3. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: Malvina
4. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: Bagatelle
5. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: La dame aveugle
6. Le bal masqué, for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) & chamber ensemble, FP 60: Finale
7. Trio for oboe, bassoon & piano, FP 43: Lent-Presto
8. Trio for oboe, bassoon & piano, FP 43: Andante con moto
9. Trio for oboe, bassoon & piano, FP 43: Rondo: Trés vif
10. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: Le Dromadaire
11. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: La Chèvre di Thibet
12. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: La Sauterelle
13. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: Le Dauphin
14. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: L'Ecrevisse
15. Le bestiaire (Cortège d'Orphée), song cycle for voice & piano (or chamber ensemble), FP 15a: La Carpe
16. Sextet for wind quintet & piano in C major, FP 100: Allegro Vivace
17. Sextet for wind quintet & piano in C major, FP 100: Divertissement: Andantino
18. Sextet for wind quintet & piano in C major, FP 100: Prestissimo

CD Details

All Artists: Allen: bar/Nash Ensemble, Th
Title: Poulenc: Le Bal Masque; Sextet in C; Trio; Le Bestiaire
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: CRD Records
Release Date: 6/12/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 708093343720

CD Reviews

Poulenc at his wittiest and most insouciant

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have kept Poulenc on my short list of composers whose music sends me heading for the exit, but nobody would want to leave this party early. Thomas Allen delivers an urbane, witty version of Poulenc's surrealist, madcap song cycle, Le Bal Masque -- a cheeky Parisian riff on Stravinsky's more refined Histoire du soldat -- and the same champagne mood continues throughout the program. The CD dates from 1986, but even this summer, when Allen offered a reprise in concert, he sounded wonderful. I can't help but think that he is the greatest singer who isn't widely acknowledged as such.

To fill out this romp of early Poulenc, there is the very brief song cycle La Bestiaire, a miniature menagerie set to aphorisms by Apollinaire, and the delightful Sextet, with its brazen quotation from Stravinsky's Pulcinella that is half homage, half prank. The Trio is a flimsy nothing, but all in all, three party tricks from Poulenc are about enough. The instrumentalists of the Nash Ensemble play with very un-English brio. The only thing to regret is the generic cover art, which gives no clue about the whiz-bang fun to be had inside."