Poulenc: Le Bal Masque

 

Usually when turning to a recording with multiple composers, I am drawn to it for a specific composition. Otherwise, I tend to prefer single composer recordings in Classical Music. In this case, I am here for Albert Roussel's String Trio, but ended up being wowed by the rest of the program instead. Odd that the Viotta Ensemble didn't choose Roussel's Flute Trio or Piano Trio, for I think they might have fit into the program a fair bit better, a program filled with French chamber music oddities.

As it is, Roussel's Trio for violin, viola, and cello is a late work from the composer, featuring compact musical ideas, but more than willing to move astray chromatically and/or dissonantly. The composer always returns to plucky melodic ideas, with a long, knotty central slow movement, yet ending on a rather sunny, rhythmically upbeat conclusion.

Charles Koechlin's Sonatina no. 2 is nearly a concertante work for Oboe d'Amore, backed by a wide-ranging chamber ensemble, including flute, clarinet, string sextet, and harpsichord. I was struck by the wistful, plaintive tone of the work, enhanced, I am sure, by the presence of the solo oboe d'amore. The harpsichord doesn't really add much until the very last upbeat movement, while the rest of the instruments swirl around the soloist.

Really, Koechlin's Second Sonatina is an exceedingly beautiful work, making me want to search out his other sonatina for oboe d'amore. On the other hand, Koechlin suggests the piece could also be played on soprano saxophone; I think this piece would lose me using that alternate instrument.

Scored for two flutes, a trumpet, and string quintet, the Suite in an Olden Style by Vincent d'Indy is a nod to the Baroque suite, such as Camille Saint-Saëns was apt to compose. I was initially worried about only having two flutes and a trumpet for winds, but really those three instruments meld together unusually well, almost surprisingly so.

Only in the fourth movement, in what must surely be one of the fastest Minuet settings I have come across, did the trumpet annoy, sounding out akin to a wartime European ambulance incessantly. The rest of the movements are rather precious, donning their Baroque dance styles with elegance and personality.

Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué receives title position amongst the quartet of chamber works, and it might be the most audacious. Written for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, cello, piano, and percussion, there is also a vocal element in four of the six movements, sung here by Dutch baritone Maarten Koningsberger, often in settings feeling like patter songs or Edith Sitwell audaciousness.

Poulenc never fails to bring a smile to my face in his instrumental compositions, here with cheeky art songs and unusual percussion, such as slapstick and whistle. I sense a playful mood at hand, apparently musically depicting caricatures at a masked ball. Certainly, the music is rarely downcast, or even lyrical, preferring high spirits and a jovial wit over anything too serious. I might even go so far as to say the music to Le Bal Masqué would fit well in what I understand to be cabaret or vaudeville.

The Viotta Ensemble is made up of players from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. They certainly add that French sec quality one can't really get anywhere else. The players certainly make each work different than the next, although that might come more from the composers than the players. Yet, these are sparkling performances.

 

 

Works

Francis Poulenc
    Le Bal Masqué, FP 60 (17.56)

Vincent d'Indy
    Suite dans le Style Ancien, op. 24 (13.50)

Charles Koechlin
    Sonatina no. 2, op. 194 (11.12)

Albert Roussel
    String Trio, op. 58 (12.39)

Soloists
Ruth Visser, oboe d'amore
Maarten Koningsberger, baritone

Ensembles
Viotta Ensemble

Year: 1996
Label: Channel Classics
Total Timing: 56.50

I really enjoyed this chamber program. The only thing that is holding me back from a top rating is the Roussel String Trio, a small nut of a work which I haven't yet cracked.

Otherwise, if you enjoy the sheer pluck of 20th Century cosmopolitan French classical music, this program provides a wide variety of pleasurable efforts for the listener.

 

Find more Roussel recordings HERE!