Gabriel Tacchino - Poulenc Piano Melodies (2017)

Gabriel Tacchino - Poulenc: Piano Melodies (2017)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 66:24 | 240 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Erato | Catalog: 0190295806439

French pianist Gabriel Tacchino was a student of Poulenc and has made that modest master's piano music his own. Piano Melodies is a compilation of recordings made between 1966 and 1985, plus a couple of new recordings made by Tacchino in old age: the opening "Les chemins de l'amour," from the incidental music to Jean Anouilh's Léocadia, and the "Rustique" movement from the Sonata for piano four hands. Poulenc wasn't known as a piano composer, and these pieces aren't terribly often played. They consist of little character pieces, Bachian essays, folk dances, and pieces called Improvisations, which are modern French counterparts to Schubert's Impromptus. The designation "Piano Melodies" shouldn't be taken to mean that they are mélodies, French songs; rather they are slices of Poulenc's abstract thinking, and as such they are of considerable interest. Tacchino's readings are precise and rather hard-edged; it's certainly possible to imagine lighter versions of, say, the Villageoises, but Tacchino brings out the rigor of Poulenc's compositional thinking. Too, Erato's reissue sound is fine; the pitfalls of transfers to CD during the late LP period are avoided. A reissue of 40-year-old piano recordings may seem unexpected, but Poulenc's piano music is both neglected and accessible - just the ticket for the aims of the Erato/Warner Classics partnership. - James Manheim
AllMusicrl





Track List:

[1] Léocadia, FP 106 - I. Les chemins de l'amour
[2] Improvisation No.15 in C minor, FP 176, 'Hommage à Édith Piaf'
[3] Mélancolie, FP 105
[4]-[6] Trois mouvements perpétuels, FP 14a
[7] Novelette No.3 in E minor on a Thema from Falla's 'El amor brujo', FP 173
[8] 2 Improvisations, FP 113 - No.12 in E flat major, 'Hommage à Schubert'
[9] Les soirées de Nazelles, FP 84 - Variations: II. Le coeur sur la main
[10] Française d'après Claude Gervaise in G minor, FP 103. Modéré
[11] Pastourelle in B flat major from 'L'Éventail de Jeanne', FP 45b
[12] Presto in B flat major, FP 70
[13]-[14] 8 Nocturnes, FP 56 - Nos. 1 & 7
[15] 2 Improvisations, FP 170 - No. 13 in A minor
[16] Suite française d'après Claude Gervaise, FP 80b - V. Bransle de Champagne
[17] Suite française d'après Claude Gervaise, FP 80b - VI. Sicilienne
[18] Valse in C major for l'Album des Six, FP 17
[19] 2 Novelettes, FP 47 - I. Modéré sans lenteur
[20] Suite française d'après Claude Gervaise, FP 80b - I. Bransle de Bourgogne
[21]-[23] Villageoises, FP 65 - Nos. 1, 2 & 4
[24] 8 Nocturnes, FP 56 - IV. Bal fantôme. Lent, très las et piano
[25]-[26] 10 Improvisations, FP 63 - Nos. 7 & 2
[27] Bourrée au Pavillon d'Auvergne in C major, FP 87
[28]-[29] Thème varié, FP 151 - Variations Nos. 3 & 4
[30] PIano Suite in C major, FP 19 - I. Presto
[31] 5 Impromptus, FP 21 - III. Très modéré
[32] 2 Novelettes, FP 47 - II. Très rapide et rythmé
[33] Sonata for Piano Four Hands, FP 8 - II. Rustique
[34] 3 Pièces, FP 48 (1953) - III. Toccata

Performers:
Gabriel Tacchino piano
Emmanuelle Stéphan piano ([33])
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