I had difficulty accessing my website this morning, from whence I’ve been sending my posts of late. So I’ll save what I wrote for tomorrow, perhaps, lest nobody see it. In its place, here’s a quick acknowledgment of Francis Poulenc’s birthday, by way of a photo of the composer, flanked by tenor Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten.
Britten and Poulenc were friends and knew one another quite well. I read a charming anecdote somewhere that Britten and Pears were present at a recording session of Pierre Bernac singing Poulenc’s songs, and that Britten himself turned the pages – but now I can’t remember where I read it!
Britten did turn pages for Bernac and Poulenc at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, when they performed “Le Bestiaire.” The recording at the link was made in London in 1945.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF0wjmzAZeo
Happy birthday, Francis Poulenc!
Tag: Francis Poulenc
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Poulenc and Britten/Britain
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Georges Prêtre A Centennial Celebration
The great French conductor Georges Prêtre would have been 100 years old today. I have to say, he had a pretty good run. He died on January 4, 2017, at the age of 92.
Prêtre studied under André Cluytens, among others, at the Paris Conservatory. He made his conducting debut in Marseilles in 1946. He was director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris from 1955-59. There, he gave the premiere of “La voix humaine” by Francis Poulenc, a composer with whom he would become closely associated. He went on to conduct at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala, Milan.
He was a regular at the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1959-71. He was music director of the Paris Opera for the 1970-71 season. He later became principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony, from 1986-91.
Prêtre was invited to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in its popular New Year’s Day concert twice, in 2008 and 2010. To date, he is the only French conductor to have done so.
Among his other notable achievements, he conducted the world premiere of Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante for Organ and Orchestra,” with Virgil Fox and the Paris Opera Orchestra, in 1959.
I hope you find this as amusing as I do. Prêtre doesn’t waste a gesture when conducting this selection from Bizet’s “Carmen,” with Maria Callas.
Joseph Jongen, “Symphonie Concertante”
Florent Schmitt, “The Haunted Palace” (after Edgar Allan Poe)
Albert Roussel, “The Spider’s Banquet”
Accompanying Francis Poulenc and Jacques Février in Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos
New Year’s Concert in Vienna, 2010
Merci, Maestro! Fondly remembering you on the 100th anniversary of your birth.
PHOTO: Planting a smacker on La Divina
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The Thirteen Choir Noontime Concert
When is 13 not bad luck? When it’s The Thirteen, of course!
Join me for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network for performances by this superlative chamber choir, directed by Matthew Robertson. On the program will be two French masterworks: Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem and Francis Poulenc’s “Figure humaine.”
Written in 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France, Poulenc’s cantata for double-mixed choir sets texts by the surrealist poet Paul Éluard. The work is an extended hymn to Liberty, victorious over tyranny.
Duruflé’s Requiem began as a commission from the collaborationist Vichy regime, which had requested from the composer a symphonic poem. He decided to write a Requiem instead, an expression of solace in a time of strife. In the event, this Mass for the Dead outlasted the regime that had requested it.
The Thirteen’s next performances will take place this weekend, in Washington, DC, and Bathesda, MD. The program, “Bach Reflections,” will include Handel’s “Dixit Dominus,” Bach’s “Lobet den Herrn,” and Agostino Steffani’s “Stabat Mater.” You can find out more at thethirteenchoir.org.
Then stick around. There’s plenty of good fortune to be found, in the form of great music, this afternoon from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Happy Feast Day Saint Francis of Assisi
Today is the Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi.
If saints are your thing, you‘d be hard pressed to find one more beloved than St. Francis – unless you’ve misplaced your car keys, in which case St. Anthony is your man. I count myself fortunate in that I was able to visit Francis’ hometown before the devastating earthquakes of 1997.
Be sure to take a moment today to kiss your pet. Bless all animals! Then enjoy some of the music below.
Franz Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (piano)
Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (orchestra)
Francis Poulenc’s “Quatre petites prières de saint François d’Assise”
Paul Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (suite, conducted by the composer)
Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (rarely-heard complete version)
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Georges Prêtre Renowned Conductor Dies at 92
Even as I am in the process of honoring the musicians we lost in 2016 on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com, I learn of the first major musical loss of the new year. The conductor Georges Prêtre has died.
Prêtre studied under André Cluytens, among others, at the Paris Conservatory. He made his conducting debut in Marseilles in 1946. He was director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris from 1955-1959. There, he gave the premiere of “La voix humaine” by Francis Poulenc, a composer with whom he would become closely associated. He went on to conduct at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala, Milan.
He was a regular at the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1959-1971. He was music director of the Paris Opera for the 1970-71 season. He later became principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony, from 1986-1991.
Prêtre was invited to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in its popular New Year’s Day concert twice, in 2008 and 2010. To date, he is the only French conductor to have done so.
Among his other notable achievements, he conducted the world premiere of Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante for Organ and Orchestra,” with Virgil Fox and the Paris Opera Orchestra, in 1959.
Prêtre was 92 years-old. It is with regret that I bid him adieu.
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