The Nash Ensemble recorded some delightful Poulenc chamber music for CRD (including the Sextet and the Trio for piano, oboe, and bassoon), revealing themselves to be sympathetic and stylish interpreters of the French master’s music. Well, something certainly has gone wrong in the intervening years. This is a very disappointing collection. Part of the problem undoubtedly lies with the recorded sound, which is veiled and seriously lacking in impact. More to the point, it fails to sufficiently differentiate instrumental timbres, with the result that the Sextet, in particular, sounds like a mess of poorly balanced, uncoordinated, and compacted melodic lines. The Nash’s frantic, insensitive tempo doesn’t help. True, it’s only seconds faster than the ensemble’s earlier version, but it sounds so much more scrambled.
Another reason for my unfavorable reaction stems from my having listened to it immediately after Naxos’ outstanding first installment in its own edition of Poulenc’s complete chamber music. The experience graphically illustrated just how much better the French players’ tone and approach suits this music. Gareth Hulse’s whiny, nasal oboe is no match for the Naxos competition, and neither is Ursula Leveaux’s timid bassoon, or Philippa Davies’ breathy, colorless, very “English” flute tone. Most disappointingly, Ian Brown’s piano playing sounds uninvolved, perfunctory, and really deficient in rhythmic punch. Compare his playing in the boisterous finale of the Trio to that of Alexandre Tharaud on Naxos, and the difference is almost embarrassing.
There’s less to complain about from the strings: both Leo Philips (violin) and Paul Watkins (cello) play their sonatas sympathetically, but they are still burdened with Ian Brown’s lackluster piano, and while the shorter pieces come off well, it hardly matters when the major works are a bust. These are, in short, disappointingly unidiomatic efforts, unflatteringly recorded, and at full price a poor investment, particularly when you can get the same music in outstanding performances and sound at Naxos’ bargain price.
