Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from SIGCD247

Dernier poème, FP163

First line:
J’ai rêvé tellement fort de toi
composer
December 1956; dedicated to Youki Desnos
author of text

Lisa Milne (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: September 2010
St Michael's Church, Summertown, Oxford, United Kingdom
Produced by John H West
Engineered by Andrew Mellor
Release date: February 2011
Total duration: 2 minutes 5 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Christopher Maltman (baritone), Graham Johnson (piano)

Reviews

'Once the object of a cult following and otherwise treated with slight disdain, Poulenc's songs have drawn deepening responses over the years until hailed like a twentieth-century Schubert for their range, subtlety and emotional wisdom. The advocacy of Graham Johnson's Songmakers' Almanac was a prime mover, and it's fitting that for a new generation's project these fine singers should be joined by Songmaker doyenne Felicity Lott, a role model and inspiration' (BBC Music Magazine)» More
This is the last poem of Robert Desnos, the poet who ended his life tragically in the concentration camp of Terezín, and is said to have been written on a cigarette paper shortly before his death and smuggled to his wife Youki—to whom Poulenc dedicates the song. The pathos of this story, whether true or not, threatens to overbalance music which is utterly sincere, delicately melancholic rather than tragic, not perhaps equal to the story and the circumstances of the poet’s demise. The setting has the advantage, even if it is not the greatest Poulenc, of the restraint and dignity typical of Desnos. The gentle sequences of the composer’s late style, contemporary with the Sonata for flute and piano, are attractive and touching, but when a Swiss critic said that it was the best thing that the composer had ever done, Poulenc’s response was ‘poor him, poor me’. It is left to the pianist and the four-bar postlude to leave ‘a truly tragic impression’ (Bernac), a dark intimation of violence or catastrophe.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 2013

Other albums featuring this work

Poulenc: The Complete Songs
CDA68021/44CDs Boxed set (at a special price)
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...