The Vineyards at Noizay
Donald Macleod looks at the works Poulenc composed at his country retreat in Noizay, where he went to escape from Paris, especially during WWII.
Donald Macleod looks at the works Poulenc composed at his country retreat in Noizay, where he went to escape from Paris, especially during WWII>
Donald Macleod explores five aspects of Poulenc鈥檚 personality and how they find expression in his music. 'In Poulenc there is something of the monk and something of the rascal' said the composer鈥檚 friend Claude Rostand - but there were other sources of inspiration that drove him. From the gregarious exploits of his youth to his serious engagement with Catholicism, from schmoozing in high society salons to the calm he sought at his country retreat and his struggles with depression, Donald surveys the life and music of a man full of contradictions.
In his late twenties Poulenc ploughed most of his inheritance from his parents into buying and restoring a 16th century house and vineyard at Noizay in the valley of the Loire. It became a retreat for him from the distractions of Paris, and a place of calm where he could compose, especially during the Second World War. But although Collette described Poulenc during this period as a 'country composer, inspired by the terroir', he was also occasionally bored to tears, and he scarcely set foot outside the house, except to walk in his elaborate, geometrical formal gardens. Donald Macleod looks at how Poulenc鈥檚 vision of a simple, rustic France worked its way into his pieces.
Ce doux petit visage
Ailish Tynan, soprano
Graham Johnson, piano
Chansons villageoises (Excerpt)
Jean Christophe Benoit, tenor
Orchestre de la Soci茅t茅 des Concerts du Conservatoire
Georges Pr锚tre, conductor
Les Animaux mod猫les
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Ariane Matiakh, conductor
Figure Humaine
Tenebrae
Nigel Short, director
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Music Played
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Francis Poulenc
Ce doux petit visage
Performer: Graham Johnson. Singer: Ailish Tynan.- Hyperion CDA68022.
- Hyperion.
- 17.
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Francis Poulenc
Chansons villageoises (extract)
Singer: Jean-Christophe Beno卯t. Orchestra: Orchestre de la Soci茅t茅 des concerts symphoniques de Paris. Conductor: Georges Pr锚tre.- EMI 7243 5 6654 2.
- EMI 7243 5 6654 2.
- 3.
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Francis Poulenc
Les Animaux modeles (suite)
Performer: Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland鈥怭falz. Conductor: Ariane Matiakh.- Capriccio C5237.
- Capriccio C5237.
- 5.
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Francis Poulenc
Figure Humaine
Choir: Tenebrae.
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