Since its founding in 2003, the Poulenc Trio has established itself as one of the world’s finest ensembles in the lesser-known domain of double-reed chamber music. The Trio’s members are not only first-rate ensemble players but are also prominent virtuosos of their respective instruments. In the group’s second release on Delos, the idiomatic qualities of double-reed instruments are particularly well-served by the pair of trios by Francis Poulenc and Jean Francais. Both works are delightful models of spare neoclassical structure, spiced with piquant French flavors, lending the music an urbane and witty effect.

In contrast, the album offers winning arrangements of music by Dmitri Shostakovich and Giaocchino Rossini, topped off by an effervescent world-premiere piece, ‘Trains of Thought,’ from contemporary composer Viet Cuong, who originally conceived it as part of a multimedia work combining music and an animated film.

REVIEWS:

Since its founding in 2003, the Poulenc Trio has established itself as one of the world’s finest ensembles in the lesser-known domain of double-reed chamber music. On “Trains of Thought,” the qualities of these instruments are particularly well-served by the trios from Francis Poulenc and Jean Francais. The album also offers winning arrangements of music by Shostakovich and Rossini, topped off by a world-premiere piece from contemporary composer Viet Cuong, who originally conceived it as part of a multimedia work combining music and an animated film.

-- WFMT Chicago

There is musical fun a-plenty in the Françaix Trio, Wang managing to make his oboe positively laugh at one point in the first movement, with Young and Lande ready to follow suit. This is a bubbling, light-hearted work which, as with so much of Françaix’s writing for winds, masks an immense understanding of the potential of the individual instruments with music of such attractiveness and joviality that one forgets the enormous skill involved in bringing it all to life.

These are superbly performed works for oboe, bassoon and piano by the talented Poulenc Trio. I’m delighted to have the opportunity of adding this Delos recording to my chamber music collection.

-- MusicWeb International

An icon of French Romanticism thanks to the enduring popularity of his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette, Charles Gounod competed three times for the prestigious Prix de Rome between 1837 and 1839. Thus he composed three unpublished cantatas for soloists and orchestra, including Marie Stuart et Rizzio and La Vendetta, which he never had the opportunity to hear in performance. Revealed for the first time, these three cantatas, fine examples of French Romanticism, show a young composer with a remarkable flair for opera. In the end Fernand won him the coveted prize, carrying with it the privilege of a three-year stay (from 1840) at the Villa Medici in Rome. While there he produced several sacred compositions, which have also remained unknown until now. His splendid Messe vocale for unaccompanied choir, written in a neo-Palestrinian style, deserves a place on the programme of every vocal ensemble.

REVIEWS:

Although all the cantatas on Disc One tug with tension, the most poignant display of Gounod’s might falls inside Fernand. Akin to Karine Deshayes, Judith Van Wanroij’s Zelmire reveals remarkable, flexible dramatic delivery, and a buoyantly light timbre. Her lover, Alamir (sung by tenor Yu Shao), shines inside the lyrically French passages with excellent enunciation while Nicolas Courjal sings with such sensitivity to draw out the selfless tendencies of the Spaniard, Fernand. The music’s orchestral interludes anticipate Faust, yet there is a marked feel of Félicien David and his Herculanum. Brilliant from beginning to end.

The four selections on the second CD give variety through mixed voices and soothing organ accompaniment by François Saint-Yves. Hervé Niquet’s direction is pristine and well-reflected through the Flemish Radio Choir with well-balanced and attentive diction upon every turn of the page. Each composition suffuses platonic rapture: undemanding on the ear, lyrically light, sweet in melody.

Anyone who cherishes the magnificence of Charles Gounod would be well to collect this little treasure.

– ConcertoNet.com (Christie Grimstad)

Music-making, at least here, is first-rate with orchestra, choir, and soloists all of the highest quality. Packaging is plush, with bound booklets in French and English containing much biographical and detailed musical information on the artists, their early musical careers, and the music included on the discs. At least with Gounod, one can hear the young composer’s increasing aptitude and increasing confidence as his skills are honed, first in the parochial French competitions and then in the real world of paid artistic commissions. I would guess we are all generally pleased that Gounod eventually abandoned the relatively modestly remunerative life of ecclesiastical music to turn to operatic blockbusters such as Faust and Roméo et Juliet, but these pleasant and melodious apprentice works also deserve to be heard, to be heard in quality productions, and to take their rightful place in the pantheon of recorded music. Highly recommended.

-- Fanfare

French pianist Lise de la Salle's new album is an outstanding, shining and subtle concept album built around Bach's music. Lise de la Salle selected pieces of Bach and works composed as a tribute to the giant of Leipzig: Busoni, Liszt, Roussel e.a. Four additional pieces have been commissioned to French classical and jazz pianist Thomas Enhco. Since 2001, Lise de la Salle has enjoyed an impressive international career that has seen her perform in every leading concert hall in Europe, the United States and Asia. She works closely with the conductors Fabio Luisi, James Conion and Osmo Vanska, among others, and has also played under the direction of Ludovic Morlot, James Gaffigan, Sir Andrew Davis, and others. She is regularly invited to perform with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Her previous albums have garnered her critical acclaim.

With the "Messa da Requiem“, Christian Spuck brought one of Verdi’s key works to the stage. In a large-scale co-production by the Ballett and Oper Zurich, the German choreographer and director ventured to portray an unusual interpretation of Verdi’s funeral mass in his scenic choreographic production. 36 dancers, the choir and supplementary choir of the Opernhaus Zurich as well as four highly acclaimed soloists joined together under the direction of Fabio Luisi for 13 wide ranging scenes dedicated to one of the most fundamental themes of humanity. Christian Spuck does not seek a mere religious interpretation of the liturgical text. Instead, he is interested in focusing on people who, in their vulnerability and helplessness, are in the search for comfort. In poetic tableaux he deals with basic human emotions and focuses on the feelings of fear, rage, pain, sadness and the search for redemption.

With Serenade, Thomas Hampson's first album exclusively dedicated to French song, Mr. Hampson brings his passion for works by French opera composers to the PENTATONE label. Curated with the French Literature scholar Sylvain Fort and in a first collaboration with the Polish pianist Maciej Pikulski, the track listing includes romantic and introspective as well as humorous selections by Bizet, Chabrier, Chausson, Gounod, Magnard, Massenet, and Saint-Saëns, featuring texts written by some of France's most revered writers including Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Rosemonde Gerard, and others.

REVIEW:

There are many byways through the well-stocked garden of French song for those who want to explore further afield. Thomas Hampson has put together an imaginative programme that places just a handful of well-known songs along its path, including Chabrier’s jolly parade of ducklings in “Villanelle des petits canards” and Chausson’s hothouse “Le temps des lilas."

-- Financial Times (U.K.)