Poulenc’s music is supposed to be lighthearted, easy to play, and not too technically demanding. Why then are there so many lousy performances of it? Can it be that the players simply take it for granted that they don’t have to work, and that just getting through the notes is enough? So it seems with this release. In the Double Concerto, Immerseel’s tempos are leaden, the playing of the soloists heavy and charmless, the orchestra dull, soft-edged, and utterly lacking in that pungent, “sec” quality that Poulenc demands. The Concert Champêtre is even worse. Poulenc wrote it for a modern, “concert grand” harpsichord; Immerseel and his soloist chose a wispy-toned instrument that sounds like it was placed somewhere across the street. He attempts to justify this choice in the booklet notes, declaring Poulenc’s chosen instrument “unsuitable” with an egotistical certitude that borders on the delusional. The result is virtually unlistenable. Really, there is simply no excuse for such unstylish, unidiomatic, and at the end of the day, just plain unmusical work.
