Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

With the 40th anniversary of his death fast approaching, expect more re-releases from Francis Poulenc. But is this the best place to start? Well, yes and no. Poulenc’s best instrumental pieces are here (“Suite Française”, “Cello Sonata” – played by Raphael Wallfisch – and the charming “Movements Perpétuels” for flute and guitar) but the choral selection is too brief and is missing his classic “Figure Humaine”. So yes, this is a more than adequate collection of Poulenc’s instrumental work but if you want to hear his choral writing in more depth go to the 1999 collection by The Joyful Company Of Singers (ASV CD DCA 1067) from which the 30 minutes of singing on this Platinum release has been extracted.

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