Poulenc: Gloria

He was a dandy – but also highly religious. He lived in the era of atonality, but his unmistakably personal music is firmly rooted in the French tradition. And since it first saw the light of day, it has been popular with music-lovers and critics alike. Francis Poulenc composes original, sensuous-sounding and sometimes cheeky, whimsical works in all musical genres. His sacred works contain great depth of personal expression, and Richard Hickox's 1980 recording of the Stabat Mater and the Gloria enjoys reference status to this day.

Few more radiant expressions of choral singing exist than the opening of Poulenc's Stabat Mater, with Dutoit's fine recording here restored to circulation and coupled with Lopez-Cobos conducting the energetic Gloria, also famous for its soprano solo. The coupling appears for the first time on CD: Bizet's Te Deum, the original LP coupling for the Gloria is a student work of the composer and is a rumbustious, thoroughly enjoyable choral/orchestral romp; moreover it is the only recording of the Te Deum currently available.

The Chicago Symphony Chorus takes centre stage in two gorgeous French works from the 20th-century on CSO Resound's newest release. The 150-voice choir, under the direction of chorus director Duain Wolfe, sings Poulenc's effervescent update of the latin Gloria with astonishing sensitivity and is the orchestra's dynamic equal in Ravel's ballet showpiece. Rising American soprano Jessica Rivera, known internationally for her performances in operas by John Adams and Osvaldo Golijov, made her CSO debut in the concerts in which this album was recorded. CSO Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink lends his gravity to these flamboyant works, allowing us to hear their inner workings as freshly as their composers imagined in the first French CD on CSO Resound, and the first Haitink release that isn't a gigantic symphony.

"The exultant devotion of the music radiated from their singing. Haitink led a fervent performance, majestic for the opening 'Gloria in excelsis Deo,' light-footed thereafter." Chicago Tribune

"Haitink had the whole enterprise in superb interpretive hands. [Chorus director Duain] Wolfe's chorus was perfectly balanced." Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Symphony Chorus takes centre stage in two gorgeous French works from the 20th-century on CSO Resound's newest release. The 150-voice choir, under the direction of chorus director Duain Wolfe, sings Poulenc's effervescent update of the latin Gloria with astonishing sensitivity and is the orchestra's dynamic equal in Ravel's ballet showpiece. Rising American soprano Jessica Rivera, known internationally for her performances in operas by John Adams and Osvaldo Golijov, made her CSO debut in the concerts in which this album was recorded. CSO Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink lends his gravity to these flamboyant works, allowing us to hear their inner workings as freshly as their composers imagined in the first French CD on CSO Resound, and the first Haitink release that isn't a gigantic symphony.

"The exultant devotion of the music radiated from their singing. Haitink led a fervent performance, majestic for the opening 'Gloria in excelsis Deo,' light-footed thereafter." Chicago Tribune

"Haitink had the whole enterprise in superb interpretive hands. [Chorus director Duain] Wolfe's chorus was perfectly balanced." Chicago Sun-Times

Stephen Layton and Polyphony continue to blaze a trail as great interpreters and dazzling performers of a wide range of choral music. Their recent disc of Bruckner’s Mass in E minor and motets was acclaimed as a benchmark recording. For their latest Hyperion disc they turn to some of the most bewitching and unusual, yet well-loved, choral works of the twentieth century.

Poulenc’s choral music is a deep expression both of his faith and of his unique musical language. In the various motets, the music responds to the composer’s studies of Bach, Monteverdi, Palestrina and Gabrieli, but is always stylistically progressive. Prominently featured are Poulenc’s distinctive and often ingenious chord progressions. Each motet has its own delightfully etched personality.

Poulenc’s Gloria is one of his most enduringly appealing works. In some ways straightforwardly pious, it is also tinged with mischievous irreverence and a sense of rollocking enjoyment. ‘When I wrote this piece’, Poulenc famously recalled, ‘I had in mind those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also some serious Benedictine monks I had once seen revelling in a game of football.’ This recording by the Britten Sinfonia, The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Polyphony and the soprano soloist Susan Gritton under Stephen Layton brings out all these aspects in a classic performance.