Stéphane Denève: Poulenc Revisited

Stéphane Denève conducts the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Choir in music by Poulenc, a composer with two faces: monk and rascal. Addiction and loss

This Saturday Matinee is entirely dedicated to the music of Francis Poulenc, with whom Stéphane Denève feels a strong connection. He already demonstrated this three years ago with an all-Poulenc program. 'With Poulenc's music, I feel like I understand what is written between the lines,' says Denève. 'When you hear a dramatic work by Poulenc, hope resonates through it at the same time.' La Dame de Monte-Carlo is a secular monologue for soprano and orchestra set to a text by Jean Cocteau, a portrait of addiction and loss. The Suite Les animaux modèles is based on famous fables by Jean de la Fontaine, which come to life this afternoon with Pierre Bokma as narrator.

Angels sticking out their tongues

With the young Franco-Catalan soprano Lauranne Oliva, the choir and orchestra dedicate themselves to Poulenc's famous Gloria. The swinging second movement caused a stir at the time. Poulenc commented on this: 'I thought of angels in frescoes by Gozzoli sticking out their tongues and of serious Benedictine monks I have seen playing football'. He based the opera Dialogues des Carmélites on a historical event: during the French Revolution, a group of nuns ends up as martyrs. The chilling final movement accurately depicts their fate…