Ensemble Midtvest - Poulenc: Chamber Works (2012)

You could be fooled into thinking that this release contains all of Poulenc’s sonatas for winds, especially as there is just enough space on this 71-minute disc to include the missing Villanelle for Pipe and Piano, as well as the lovely but very silly Sonata for Two Clarinets. I’m guessing these were only left out because of the lack of a piper or second clarinetist in the superb Danish group, Ensemble MidtVest. In their favor they do include the recently unearthed flute miniature from 1942, Un joueur de flûte berce les ruines (A Flautist Plays for Ruins), which doesn’t make the complete chamber collections on Hyperion and EMI.

The playing is bright, expressive, and very polished throughout, possibly even a little too serious at times. Predictably their clear-eyed approach suits the Elegy for Horn and Piano, Poulenc’s tribute to Dennis Brain and the Clarinet Sonata, dedicated to the memory of Honegger. Likewise the exquisite rendition of the Flute Sonata is all the better for not being pulled about for romantic effect. Charlotte Norholt is a stunning flutist and, in my view, she and pianist Martin Qvist Hansen surpass the classic version from Michael Debost and Jacques Fevrier on EMI. In fact all the members have stunning technique, although I wish the Oboe Sonata let rip a little more, despite the plangent tone from oboist, Peter Kirstein. There is energy and formidable skill on display for a devilishly fleet-footed performance of the Stravinsky-hued Wind Trio, but (a silly gripe, maybe) the odd bit of splashiness or wit might not have gone amiss. Placed sensibly at the end of this immaculate recital, as the most substantial but earliest work, it proves how Poulenc’s voice was mature already in his 20s, just as the earlier tracks (flitting about from 1962 to the wartime and the mid ’50s) show how, even at his most poignant and restless, he never loses his lightness of touch. This disc, better than most, demonstrates how Poulenc’s chamber is more than charm and neoclassical homages and does often respond well to being treated seriously.

CPO’s presentation is exceptional with superb notes on each work, as well as performer bios, all in German, English, French, and Danish; an example to other labels, and with bright, spacious sound to match. This doesn’t topple all the other great versions of Poulenc’s chamber works out there, although the classic EMI recordings with Poulenc’s contemporaries are starting to feel a little dated and stiff limbed, but this makes a superb supplement to the bright and breezy Nash Ensemble on Hyperion. I can’t wait for future volumes.