Poulenc

Bath Festival Orchestra

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Louise Farrenc, Berlioz, Poulenc
Bath Festival Orchestra
Peter Manning conductor, Dana Zemtsov viola
Queen Elizabeth Hall, 14 January 2024

Louise Farrenc: Overture No.1 in E minor
Berlioz: Harold en Italie
Poulenc: Sinfonietta

My usual reviewing is in early music, so it was a surprise to be invited to review a concert of Louise Ferrenc, Berlioz and Poulenc by the Bath Festival Orchestra. The orchestra and some of the music were not familiar to me, so it was a chance to broaden my knowledge of the repertoire and our regional orchestras. And I’m glad I did. It was a well-planned and performed all-French programme contrasting two compositions from the same year of 1834 with a later contribution from 1947.

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Prières pour Notre Dame

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Prières pour Notre Dame
Music for organ and upper voices
Colin Walsh – Cavaillé-Coll organ of St Ouen, Rouen 
Romsey Abbey Choir, George Richford
Regent REGCD538. 67’27


Dupré: Versets pour les Vêpres
Lili Boulanger: Pie Jesu
Demessieux: Rorate coeli,  Attende Domine
Poulenc: Litanies à la Vierge noire

This evocative recording features music by four French composers performed on the magnificent 1890 Cavaillé-Coll organ of St Ouen, Rouen, a former Benedictine foundation – as is Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, from where the Senior girls of the Romsey Abbey Choir (aged between 16 and 19) provide an ideal contrast to the power of the organ.

Rouen St Ouen organ

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