This classic (Universal France only) recording of Poulenc gems ought to be completely self-recommending. Pierre Bernac's wonderfully manic, sometimes suave, sometimes loopy, always brilliant singing of Le Bal masqué demonstrates exactly why Poulenc preferred him above all as his ideal interpreter. The various wind players, including the young Jean-Pierre Rampal in the Flute Sonata, and the wonderfully reedy bassoon playing of Maurice Allard, give the composer everything he demands.

Poulenc's own piano playing, soft-edged and "swimming in pedal" as he always wished, makes an ideal foil to the acidulous timbres of the double reeds. The Trio for piano, oboe, and bassoon, especially, captures exactly the right mixture of sentimentality and mischievous wit. Not all brass players will warm to the very "French" timbre of Lucien Thévet's solo horn in the Elégie, but there's no doubt that this is the sound Poulenc heard when he wrote the piece, and it certainly works alongside the composer's sympathetic accompaniment. Perky, delicious, occasionally sentimental fun, then, though the vivid sonics favor the winds and put Bernac in his own acoustic.

--David Hurwitz