As far as I am concerned, Poulenc is usually synonymous with enjoyment, and there are things to relish in this disc, which represents the composer's music for four hands rather than (as is often done) coupling the Double Piano Concerto with the one for solo piano. Thorson and Thurber bring plenty of verve to the outer movements of the Concerto, but although they and the orchestra under Rasmussen sound reasonably idiomatic, one misses the sense of uninhibited joyfulness that the best performances bring to this work, and they drive the first movement's main tempo hard for the marking of Allegro ma non troppo—though I should add that I have heard other pianists do the same. The central Larghetto, with its echoes of the corresponding movement in Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto, is disappointing, played with a heavily mannered rubato that suits the music not at all.
The rest of the disc goes more consistently well and if the content appeals to you it could be worth investigating, not least for the performance of the rarely heard Elegie, a late work dating from 1959, which offers real tenderness. The Sonata for Two Pianos also comes over strongly. The recording throughout is clear yet atmospheric. The disc resembles a rather similar one also coming from Scandinavia that I recently reviewed, in which the pianists were Roland Pontinen and Love Derwinger (see above); there the Concerto went better but the other pieces less well. In any case, if the Double Piano Concerto is what principally interests you, I recommend Francois-Rene Duchable and Jean-Philippe Collard, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under James Conlon; their stylish performance is coupled with more popular pieces, namely the Piano Concerto and Aubade.'