Let's raise a glass of Chateaux-Neuf-du-Pape to Erato, once one of the great French classical labels that exists only in reissues. In its prime, Erato had many of the finest French performers, from Monique Haas to Pierre Boulez, on its roster. At its peak in the digital era, it had even signed the Argentinean Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony. But Erato dwindled in the implosion of classical labels in the late '90s, and one has to scrutinize this particular recording to see the tiny word Erato appear in the fine ...
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Let's raise a glass of Chateaux-Neuf-du-Pape to Erato, once one of the great French classical labels that exists only in reissues. In its prime, Erato had many of the finest French performers, from Monique Haas to Pierre Boulez, on its roster. At its peak in the digital era, it had even signed the Argentinean Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony. But Erato dwindled in the implosion of classical labels in the late '90s, and one has to scrutinize this particular recording to see the tiny word Erato appear in the fine print. Too bad: the greatest advantage this recording of Poulenc's distinctly French works for piano and orchestra has over nearly every other recording of the same repertoire is that François-René Duchable is a French pianist to his fingertips. He has a light but deep touch, a strong but colorful tone, and a virtuoso technique and his approach to Poulenc's music is natural but intellectual, intuitive but objective. He understands that Poulenc's ironically romantic music is totally...
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