Poulenc Stabat mater; Motets
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Francis Poulenc
Label: HMV
Magazine Review Date: 5/1986
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL270259-1
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Stabat mater |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Barbara Hendricks, Soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer French National Orchestra French Radio Chorus Georges Prêtre, Conductor |
| (4) Motets pour un temps de pénitence |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Catherine Resnel, Soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer French National Orchestra French Radio Chorus Georges Prêtre, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Francis Poulenc
Label: HMV
Magazine Review Date: 5/1986
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL270259-4
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Stabat mater |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Barbara Hendricks, Soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer French National Orchestra French Radio Chorus Georges Prêtre, Conductor |
| (4) Motets pour un temps de pénitence |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Catherine Resnel, Soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer French National Orchestra French Radio Chorus Georges Prêtre, Conductor |
Author: Lionel Salter
Twenty years or so after his first recording of these two works (cassette only—HMV TCC2-POR1545979, 4/64), Pretre has returned to them, though still, I fear, without a great deal of success. He has a better choir than he had then, but by modern professional standards it is far from impressive. Comparison with the Alldis-trained body on EMI Pathe-Marconi in the Penitential motets, for example, reveals far too many ragged entries, sopranos lacking in assurance on high notes, and occasional uncertainty over the chording of tricky passages like ''circa horam nonam'' in ''Tenebrae factae sunt'', whose dramatic contrasts are underplayed. Care has been taken over nuances, but words lack definition because of excessively remote microphone placing: the Alldis group, recorded in St Germain-en-Laye, was dogged by a very long reverberation period, but a close balance lent greater vividness both to the words and to the tone.
In Poulenc's memorial tribute to his friend Christian Berard, the choir show up even less well against the Lyons forces in the Baudo/Harmonia Mundi recording, whose quality and security of intonation it cannot match (an example is the exposed start of ''Fac ut ardeat''). The basses' initial lines conspicuously lack firmness, the sorprano's first entry is frankly poor, as is ''Virgo virginum praeclara'' in the ''Sancta mater'' section (though they make a better shot at the high entry at ''Fac ut portem''), and at a capella passages throughout the work the pitch is held only uneasily. Michele Lagrange brought more tenderness to the solo part than does Barbara Hendricks, whose cool tone makes her sound unduly impersonal and detached—the difference in their treatmen of ''Paradisi gloria'' is very striking; and orchestral detail has been less clearly caught in the Salle Wagram than in the excellent acoustics of the concert hall in Lyons.'
In Poulenc's memorial tribute to his friend Christian Berard, the choir show up even less well against the Lyons forces in the Baudo/Harmonia Mundi recording, whose quality and security of intonation it cannot match (an example is the exposed start of ''Fac ut ardeat''). The basses' initial lines conspicuously lack firmness, the sorprano's first entry is frankly poor, as is ''Virgo virginum praeclara'' in the ''Sancta mater'' section (though they make a better shot at the high entry at ''Fac ut portem''), and at
Poulenc Stabat mater; Motets
Poulenc Stabat mater; Motets
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